Breakfast to honor veterans

The Harlem mayor and the city council will honor military veterans with a hearty breakfast at the City of Harlem Memorial Day Breakfast on Saturday morning.

"It's kind of grown out of the Feed-A-Soldier night," Mayor Scott Dean said, referring to the annual Thanksgiving dinner that the city serves Fort Gordon soldiers who can't be with family. "It's kind of an offshoot of that. We wanted to do something for Memorial Day, but not compete with" Columbia County's festivities."

Dean and the city's four council members are paying for the first Memorial Day breakfast event personally as a way to say thank you to all who serve or have served in the military.

The event will begin at 8 a.m. at the Harlem United Methodist Church on Milledgeville Road in Harlem. Church volunteers will help the council prepare breakfast.

The menu includes bacon, eggs, sausage, grits and possibly pancakes, Dean said.

The plan was originally to honor Harlem-area veterans, but it has since expanded to all veterans in any branch in the military.

"We're not going to turn anybody away," Dean said.

Dean said the event will probably last until about 9:30 a.m. Reservations are requested.

For more information, or to make a reservation, call the Laurel and Hardy Museum in Harlem at 556-0401.