City of Portsmouth, NH Announces Veterans Day Observances

Portsmouth, N.H. – On Wednesday, November 11, 2026 at 11 am, Veterans Day will be commemorated in Portsmouth with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Soldiers & Sailors Monument in Goodwin Park. A post-event gathering with a light meal will take place at the American Legion Post, located at 96 Islington Street. In case of rain, the event will move indoors to the Legion. 

The commemoration includes remarks by Mayor Deaglan McEachern, the invocation and benediction by Reverend Ellen Quaadgras of South Church, welcome address by former mayor and veteran, Robert P. Lister, and music by the Portsmouth High School Clipper Band. The National Anthem will be sung by vocalist and teacher at Portsmouth Music and Arts Center, Crystal Marie. 

Navy Lieutenant Commander Alfred P. Garvey, Navigator and Operations Officer aboard the USS New Mexico (SSN 779), will deliver the keynote address. The New Mexico submarine is currently docked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and Portsmouth serves as its host community. 

For more information about the wreath-laying ceremony, visit: portsmouthnh.gov.  

Veterans Day is observed at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, to mark the moment the armistice silenced the guns in 1918 and ended World War I. Frank Booma of Portsmouth, for whom the American Legion Post is named, was killed in France in July 1918; and the Post was formed in 1919 by Portsmouth veterans of that war. 

In observance of Veterans Day, City of Portsmouth offices, Recreation Department facilities, and the Portsmouth Public Library will be closed on November 11. There will be no change to trash collection, however there will be no yard waste collected on Wednesday. As a parking holiday, there will be no charge at on-street parking meters on Wednesday, November 11. 

Veterans Day Breakfast on November 10 

An annual tradition in Portsmouth, the Veterans Breakfast, will be held on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. The City’s Recreation Department invites all Portsmouth veterans and a guest to a free French toast breakfast starting at 9 am at the Senior Activity Center, located at 125 Cottage Street.  

Breakfast will be followed by a Quilts of Valor ceremony at 11 am where a number of veterans nominated by the community receive a quilt handmade in their honor.  

To make the required reservation for the Veterans Breakfast, call 603-610-4433.