By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

PELHAM—Stop by Pelham’s Texas Roadhouse restaurant on Veterans Day and join various local businesses and groups in honoring those who have fought for our country.

The day kicks off at 10:30 a.m. as the Thompson High School Junior ROTC program presents the colors, followed by a performance from members of the THS choir, Holley Frings of Texas Roadhouse explained.

“I’m super excited,” Frings said. “The ROTC is going to help us seat the veterans.”

All veterans are welcome to enjoy a free meal from a special Veterans Day menu from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Texas Roadhouse will also give gift cards generated through their donation program to the Pelham’s American Legion Post 555.

“On Veterans Day, we’re donating (the gift cards) to the American legion,” Frings said. Texas Roadhouse will continue to collect gift card donations, and will give them to returning troops as well. “(The program) really warms my heart.”

Frings said TS Arms will attend the celebration, bringing their Desert Storm-era 1985 five-ton deuce truck and 1942 Ford jeep, complete with a functional 50-caliber machine gun.

Pelham’s American Legion Post 555 will also join the Veterans Day festivities at Texas Roadhouse, setting up an informational booth.

“(We want) to let people know we’re in the city of Pelham,” Post 555 Commander Barry Blount said, noting the post’s goal is “giving back to the community.”

As a veterans’ organization, Veterans Day holds special significance to the members of Post 555.

“It’s something special… remembering those lost. It’s a void you can’t fill. They may not have been blood, but I can tell you, they’re family,” Blount said, encouraging veterans to attend the event at Texas Roadhouse. “The more the merrier, it’s the veterans we want to honor.”