Elks Lodge holds ceremony for hometown heroes, Thurs.

Before raising 40 banners along the Boardwalk, the Ocean City Elks Lodge will be dedicating each one to active duty and former service members in a ceremony Thursday afternoon.

The lodge will be holding a Hometown Heroes Military Banner dedication ceremony on May 5 at the firefighter memorial on the boards. The program typically is reserved for 20 active service members. But this year, it has doubled its size to include World War II veterans. In all, 23 World War II veteran and 17 active military personnel honored on the banners this summer.

“I’ve never been involved in something that has such an ecstatic response from the public,” said Pat Riordan of the Elks’ Veterans Committee. “Last year, we had more than 100 people at the ceremony, and we have half the banners we have now.”

The Hometown Hero program began honoring local service members in 2014 by hanging banners on Boardwalk light posts from the inlet to Fourth Street. The banners are five-feet long and display the service member’s name, rank and military photograph. Last December, the City Council approved expanding the program to former World War II soldiers and personnel.

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