The LaGrange Elks Lodge is hosting lunch Nov. 11 and wants every veteran in the area to come and eat at the club.

“We felt like this was a good way to honor our veterans and let them know they are appreciated,” said Chuck Franklin, Elks Club leader. “We can’t ever thank them enough, but this is one way of expressing our gratitude.”

Lunch will be barbecue and all the trimmings and the Elks say they’ve had good support from local businesses and the veterans’ organizations. It’s the first time the Elks have hosted such an event and the club says lunch is open to all veterans - all branches, all eras, no reservations needed. The club is at 905 Davis Road, and lunch begins at 11 a.m.

“We’re preparing for as many as 1,500 - and intend to serve until the food runs out,” said Rufus Brown, veterans’ chairman at the Elks Club.

The West Georgia Veterans’ Council is hosting its annual memorial service at 11 a.m. at the veterans’ memorial at the Troup County Government Center, 100 Ridley Ave.

This year’s ceremony will feature the national anthem, sung by Max and Marcelene New, two-thirds of the “Good News Trio.”

The council will continue the tradition it began last year, reading the names of veterans that have died in the last year. The Rev. Tony Dean from Loyd Presbyterian Church and Patricia Rogers, a spokeswoman for West Georgia Health System, will read the names.

Veterans also will lay a wreath at the memorial, read the poem “Flanders Field” and sing “God Bless America.”