By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Pelham-based Cahaba Valley Elks Lodge and the city of Pelham will celebrate America’s past, present and future on Flag Day June 10 with a ceremony at the Pelham Civic Complex.

During the free ceremony, which will begin at 3 p.m. in the Complex’s banquet side, Elks Lodge members will present a parade of America’s historical flags covering everything from the Pine Tree flag to The Star-Spangled Banner.

The event also will include a parade of America’s military flags, patriotic music featuring the 313th U.S. Army Quintet Band, soloist Jeff Morris and The Crimson Pride Chorus and a flag-retirement ceremony by the North Shelby-based Boy Scout Troop 5.

“We try to make it a community affair every year,” said Cahaba Valley Elks Lodge member Liz Bishop. “As Elks, we are actually required to have a ceremony on Flag Day. We could just have something small at our lodge, but we want to involve the whole community.”

The Elks will partner with the Blue Star Salute Foundation during the event to honor the members of the Army National Guard 167th Infantry and their families. The 167th Infantry, which is assigned to the Army National Guard Armory in Pelham, recently was activated for deployment to Afghanistan.

“It’s non-political. We just do this to promote patriotism,” Bishop said.

For more information about the event, or to reserve areas for large group seating, call Bishop at 365-2268 or email liz@lizbishop.com.