The 11-11-11 Club will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a banquet on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11, at the Red Rose Memorial VFW Post 2435, Fourth and Manor streets, Columbia. Because of the club's milestone anniversary, there will be no charge for the meal; the cost has been covered by a donor. The meal will be limited to the first 175 reservations, which must be phoned in between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 717-684-7356.

Gen. David L. Mann will speak at the banquet. "Our speaker is an accomplished veteran," noted Kevin Kraft, who is the secretary and treasurer of the club. "He is Columbia's seventh general. We have seven generals and two admirals from Columbia, and I don't think there's a town this size anywhere else with that many honored veterans."

In his most recent assignment, Mann served as the commanding general for the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, while also serving as commanding general for U.S. Strategic Command's Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense. His responsibilities included leading, training and developing the Army's current and future global space and missile defense forces. Mann retired in 2017, having served more than 35 years in the Army. A graduate of Millersville University, he earned master's degrees in engineering management from George Washington University and in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College. He has been married to his wife, Robyn, for more than 45 years. They have two children and four grandchildren.

The Bainbridge Band will perform prior to the banquet, beginning about 9:45 a.m., Kraft said. "At the beginning of the program, they will also play a medley of all of the theme songs of the branches of the military, and I'm going to ask people who served in each branch to stand and be recognized," he noted. The formal program will begin at 11 a.m. Members of the VFW women's auxiliary will prepare the meal, which will feature a turkey dinner.

Kraft explained that the 11-11-11 Club holds the banquet annually to honor veterans and thank them for their service. The club formed after World War I ended, when a small group of Columbia businessmen got together to mark the armistice agreement that was signed at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, the 11th day of the 11th month.

For more information on the club or the banquet, contact Kraft at the aforementioned number.