November 12 program to celebrate Lansing’s WWI service personnel ...

A special program will celebrate the nearly 200 World War I servicemen and women with ties to Lansing and other areas of Allamakee County. The program will start at 1 p.m., Monday, November 12 at Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library, located at 515 Main Street in Lansing.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, the day WWI ended. To mark this historic milestone, the Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library has created a series of posters highlighting Lansing’s participation in the war and how residents welcomed home their soldiers, sailors and nurses, such as what is pictured above in the submitted photo of a welcome home parade in Lansing with a photo date of October 18, 1919. Brief accounts of the lives of many of those who served have been compiled in a notebook for the exhibit. Visitors to the library can learn about men who started vital businesses that still operate in Lansing and the families who made their living fishing on the Mississippi River and clamming or cutting buttons on its shores. Many farmers in the townships surrounding Lansing will also find soldiers who share their family names.

The November 12 program at the library will share the stories and provide time for those attending the program to contribute their own family memories and other information. The program is free and open to the public. Discover how area men and women defended democracy and how their life’s work continues to influence the Lansing area.