by Johna Strickland, Features Editor
10 months ago | 345 views | 0

|
5 
|
|
PEMBROKE — This year’s fall concert in the Cruisin’ Pembroke series is not just about the music. It’s about honoring veterans during the event from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the recreational complex on N.C. 711 in Pembroke.
The veterans ceremony starts at 5 p.m. The names of local people who have been killed in war, declared missing in action or held as prisoners of war will be read. Family members who are present will be asked to stand and there will be a moment of silence for each veteran, event Chairman Lucille Locklear said.
To submit a name, call the Pembroke Area Chamber of Commerce at (910) 522-2162 or e-mail at pembrokechamber@gmail.com or call the veterans office of the Lumbee tribe at (800) 659-6585.
The event will include the chance to win gift certificates and a variety of singing and dancing, Locklear said. Food — ribbon fries, funnel cake, collard sandwiches and fried candy bars — will be sold.
“It’s our second annual fall concert and we’re going to feature the Unity Quartet and the Lumbee ambassadors, John Lakota Locklear, Beyond the Veil Assembly of God choir and David Locklear,” Locklear said. “... We want to have a family fun outdoor get-together, get to your community type thing, pulling the community, the town, the schools all together event. That’s why we’re hoping we can have something everyone can enjoy.”
In 2008, the first fall concert did not commemorate veterans and it was held on a Friday night. The day resulted in an attendance of only 250 people, Locklear said. Event organizers switched the concert to Saturday this year “so we would not be competing against (high school) football games,” she said.
Once the date had been picked, the group noticed its proximity to Veterans Day and decided to pay homage.
“We were just brainstorming and the idea just come up, let’s honor the veterans, and I think it’s been really receptive by us doing that,” Locklear said.
The effort has involved the Robeson County Honor Guard, the Lumbee tribe, the Chamber of Commerce and the Veterans of Foreign Wars post.
____________________
If you go ...
The concert will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Pembroke recreational complex on N.C. 711. Bring blankets and chairs.