North Shore Veterans Invited To Annual Salute to Veterans Breakfast

DANVERS, MA — North Shore veterans and active-duty military are invited to this year's Salute to Veterans Breakfast set for Nov. 9 at Danversport.

The North Shore Chamber of Commerce, premier sponsor UniCare and supporting sponsor O'Donnell Funeral Services are presenting the celebration of patriotism, service and the nation's military and veterans communities.

This year's Minuteman Service Awards will be presented at the breakfast with this year's recipients being North Andover and Boxford Veterans Services Director Joe LeBlanc and Paradis Dental Associates of Salem.

LeBlanc has lobbied for North Andover and Boxford to be named Purple Heart communities, helped refurbish the World War I Memorial to correct misspelled names, worked with the Lawrence Exchange Club to host a "Field of Honor" in North Andover and coordinated a COVID-19 vaccination clinic with the Bedford Veterans Hospital and VFW Post 2104.

Paradis Dental Associates has long-supported reduced- or no-cost veterans care with their dentists working with the VA to provide dental care.

Retired Command Sergeant Major and decorated combat veteran Skip Soderholm, who spent 20 years serving in the Army’s elite Special Missions Unit, will be the keynote speaker for the breakfast.

Soderholm has 11 combat deployments to the Middle East where he participated in more than
800 combat missions. He has been awarded 10 Bronze Star medals, twice for valor, along with three Purple Heart medals.

All veterans and members of the military are invited to attend for free through an O'Donnell Funeral Services donation. Tickets for the general public are $75 and $55 for Chamber members.

The breakfast will run from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m.

Attendees must register for tickets in advance here or by calling 978-213-4265.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)