The veterans’ organizations of Mount Morris — Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 547 and American Legion Post 354 — have joined forces to host a benefit event in honor of World War II veterans on Saturday, Jan. 23.

There will be an all day celebration at the VFW headquarters at 3 Elm Street with a musical jamboree and spaghetti dinner along with speaking engagements and presentations by dignitaries and honored guests .

Everyone is invited. There is no ticket or admission charge. Instead, folks are asked to donate what they wish. Music and speeches will be from 2:00 to 9:00 with dinner served between 4:00 and 7:00.

One hundred percent of all proceeds will be passed along to Rochester Honor Flight — one of the 72 Honor Flight chapters in the United States which are flying World War II veterans to Washington D.C. at absolutely no cost to the veterans. The veterans spend a weekend being dined and honored while touring the sites of the nation’s Capital, including the World War II Memorial.

According to Howard Appell, one of the event spokespersons, this is a time when every community in the United States should be giving consideration to making a gesture of thank you to those veterans of World War II who remain.

And it is appropriate for Mount Morris to show the way because the community takes exceptional pride in a remarkable claim: That, among all the communities in the United States, it supplied one of the greatest fractions of its citizens for military service during World War II.

The Town of Mount Morris will be making a proclamation, declaring the day as one for special recognition of those men and women who fought the war and saved the world. Distinguished and knowledgable speakers will be taking the podium, offering their thoughts on sacrifice, duty and the preservation of the American Dream.

Among the bands appearing will be The Chercroppers (2:00); Dick Jopson & the Northernaires (3:15); Hank and the Hustlers (4:30); Santos Fifties Band (5:45), and The Burn Brothers (7:00).

An assortment of souvenirs will be available including Honor Flight magnets and hats and a one-time reprint of Gen. George Marshall’s Victory Report for World War II. The original book was a project of the Post 547 Ladies Auxiliary in 1946 and included the names of every person from Mount Morris who had performed military service in World War II.

The reprint will include all of the original book with additional contemporary essays and appendices relating to Mount Morris’ role in the war. Noteworthy is a calculation of Mount Morris’ actual percentage of World War II service members.

Those who want to start the celebration a little earlier should get to the Hoyt Visitors Center at the Mount Morris Dam at 1:00. As one in a series of World War II theme lectures running throughout the winter, Steve Rapp, an Honor Flight guardian, will be describing his experience of accompanying veterans of World War II to the nation’s Capitol.