A monthlong exhibit of local veterans’ photos has been installed in the North Yarmouth Community Center lobby. Rachel Vitello / The Forecaster

Local veterans are being honored in a photo exhibit this month at the North Yarmouth Community Center and organizers plan to make it an annual November display.

To mark National Veterans Month, the North Yarmouth Veterans Memorial Park Corporation curated the collection, which features about three dozen photographs printed on canvas.

“It’s special to me that the town has thought to include a time and space where we are recognizing those people that have lived in town that have served in our U.S. military,” said Thaddeus Day, a veteran and director of the Memorial Park group.

Thaddeus Day, left, his daughter Allie and son Mitchell at her U.S. Air Force commissioning as 2nd Lieutenant in 2016. This photo is one on display at the North Yarmouth Community Center. Contributed / Holly Day

Day, an Air Force veteran and an active lieutenant colonel in the Maine Air National Guard, was deployed to Iraq in 2009 while serving for the New Hampshire Air National Guard as part of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He served seven months at a camp outside of Baghdad ensuring that U.S. boundaries were fortified and contractors were trained.

A photo of Day, his daughter, Allie, and his son, Mitchell, is featured in the exhibit. His daughter is an active duty captain in the Air Force, and his son ended his active duty in the Air Force this past summer but remains a staff sergeant in the New Hampshire Air National Guard.

Day’s family has a long history of military service.  His father, aunt and father-in-law served in the U.S. Army, his uncle was in the U.S. Air Force and his grandfather served in the Navy in World War II, he said.

The gallery of veterans was a big hit during Election Day, when residents who came to the center to vote enjoyed pointing out photos of their relatives and friends, said Assistant Town Manager and Town Clerk Debbie Allen Grover.

“I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for our veterans. I just think they deserve everything we can do for them and the recognition that they were willing to give their life, if needed, to our country,” Grover said. “I just want to give a thank you to all those who have served and all those who will serve.”

Grover had approached Community Center Director Lisa Thompson last year about creating a display to honor local veterans, but the pandemic precluded it then.

“I approached the Veterans Memorial Park Corporation again this year and asked them, if I gave them our files, would they take on the project and make it happen? They agreed,” Grover said. “Back in September I passed what we had onto the Memorial Park group and they were able to put together what you see in the community center today.”

Additional photos of North Yarmouth veterans will be accepted for future November displays. Photos can be submitted to Holly Day with the Veterans Park Corporation at hday@maine.rr.com.