November 11, 2026 | By Lisa Scagliotti
Veterans, community members and students gather for Waterbury’s short ceremony marking Veterans Day. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
At Wednesday’s Veterans Day commemoration at Rusty Parker Memorial Park, members of the Waterbury American Legion Post welcomed fellow veterans, community members, and 13 seventh graders from Websterville Christian Assembly School in Barre, their teacher, and some of their parents.
Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Attending the ceremony was a community service field trip, teacher Lisa Shephard said. Classes at the school were encouraged to spend Veterans Day in the community at observances such as the one held in Waterbury each year, she said. Waterbury’s multiple war memorials honoring service members from the community were also of interest for the students to visit, she added.
Ahead of the visit, students learned about the history of Veterans Day and the symbol of the red poppy used by the American Legion and in honor of veterans since World War I. The connection originated from the 1915 poem “In Flanders Fields” by Lt. Col. John McCrae, a Canadian soldier and physician. The poem describes the red poppies blooming in fields bearing soldiers’ graves in Belgium and France. For more than a century the poppy has been a popular symbol in the U.K., Canada and the United States, honoring war veterans.
Wednesday’s ceremony included remarks by U.S. Army veteran Joe Zickmund from Websterville, a Vermont American Legion leader.
The students joined Legion members afterwards for lunch and conversation. Legion member Topo Despault said he would share information with the class about American Legion youth programs.
Local veterans with students from Websterville Christian Academy at Waterbury’s Veterans Day commemoration ceremony. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti