MARION — The coronavirus pandemic has cancelled many annual public celebrations like the Fourth of July and Memorial Day, but the Marion Board of Selectmen are working to make sure Veterans Day celebrations don’t meet a similar fate.

Donna Hemphill, a member of the Veterans Day Committee, laid out some tentative plans for a “pared down” Veterans Day ceremony for the board at a Board of Selectmen meeting on Sept. 22. 

In previous years, festivities have included performances by the Sippican School Band and a full auditorium for the ceremony, but Hemphill said she knows Marion “can’t do that this year.”

She proposed a ceremony that will be “short, sweet and to the point,” with things like a grab n’ go lunch for veterans, which will be held at the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center, similar to the grab n' go lunches that the Council on Aging has done in recent months.

“I think it’s important for us to continue the tradition the VFW has always had,” Hemphill said. 

Details like what to do in the event of inclement weather have yet to be worked out, but the board seemed to be keen on continuing the tradition of a Veterans Day ceremony. 

“If we do it outside — if we do it the right way — I think we can get it done,” Town Administrator Jay McGrail said. 

Like the Fourth of July and Memorial Day, McGrail also said that Old Rochester Community Television will tape the events.