Special Observance “World War I Remembered’ 

The public is invited and encouraged to join the Stanly County Historical Society and Stanly County Veterans Service Organizations on Sunday, November 11 at 2:30 p.m. at the Walter B. Hill Event Center, American Legion Post 76 (Stanly County Fairgrounds, 24302 South Business 52) for an observance of 100 years since the Armistice of 1918. 

The program that day will be “World War I Remembered.”  The speaker will be Charlie Knight, curator of Military History at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh.  Local participants will also present music, stories, and poems related to WWI.

The event is free, and everyone is invited to attend.  At the conclusion of the Sunday afternoon program all veterans in attendance will be recognized. Veterans are invited to wear their military uniform or their (VSO) Veterans Service Organization uniform for the Sunday afternoon November 11 event.  Registration is not required. 

In addition, Stanly County will participate in the Bells of Peace initiative that will occur cross the state as part of the Armistice Day Centennial on November 11, 2018.

Bells will toll in unison across North Carolina and throughout the world at 11 a.m. November 11 to commemorate the centennial of Armistice Day.

When the Armistice ending World War I was signed on November 11, 1918 at 11 a.m., bells rang in celebration around the world. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources has encouraged local history groups and community organizations to ring bells 21 times at 11 a.m., Sunday, November 11. We hope many local churches and other organizations will make plans to participate.

Following the Sunday afternoon program at the Walter B. Hill Event Center, a World War I exhibit will open at the Stanly County History Center, located at 157 North Second Street in Albemarle.  This free exhibit will also be open Monday – Friday from 9-5 and 1st Saturdays from 9-1 and will run for several months.