Anthem's Veterans Day ceremony is shaped around a sun angle. The program at Community Park starts at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. It closes at 11:11 a.m., when sunlight passes through the five pillars of the Anthem Veterans Memorial and lands on the Great Seal of the United States, weather permitting. The calendar lists an 11:15 a.m. end time, which leaves four minutes after the light arrives.
Other community events fill the days around that minute. Autumnfest runs the weekend before, the Daisy Mountain Veterans Parade the Saturday after, and Market in the Park the next morning. All of them sit within a short walk of 41703 N. Gavilan Peak Parkway. Most of the week is also planned, paid for and staffed by the community itself. The Anthem Community Council puts a budget line toward the ceremony, local veterans groups run the parade, and a nearby restaurant serves breakfast.
The memorial was built for one moment
The Anthem Veterans Memorial was dedicated on November 11, 2011, so this year's ceremony falls 15 years after its first. It has five marble pillars, one for each of the five military branches, and the sun at 11:11 a.m. on November 11 throws a spotlight onto the memorial's Great Seal mosaic. The light reaches the seal through elliptical openings in the pillars.
A 2021 Defense Visual Information Distribution Service story covered the memorial's tenth anniversary. It credits the design to civil engineer Jim Martin and designer Renee Palmer-Jones. The ACC's own brochure lists Palmer-Jones as the artist and a co-owner of the copyright.
At ground level, the names are what you'll see. According to that DVIDS story, about 2,200 brick pavers circle the memorial, each carrying a veteran's name, and some of those names go back to the Revolutionary War. The ACC brochure describes the paver program in tiers. A veteran paver goes in the Circle of Honor. A sponsorship paver honors a veteran who might otherwise go unrecognized. Support pavers carry group, family or business names, and higher "Friend of the Memorial" pavers are also offered. The prices in that brochure date from its November 2017 update and may have changed, so check current pricing with the ACC before you order.
Because of the design, the ceremony can't move to a more convenient time. It happens on November 11 and ends at 11:11 a.m., and in 2026 that falls on a Wednesday morning.
What's on the 2026 program
At its August 26, 2026 board meeting, the Anthem Way Foundation board got a planning update from ACC Executive Director Aaron Baker. It is the most detailed public look at this year's ceremony so far. It lists these pieces:
- Keynote: Command Sergeant Major Joshua T. Holton, Command Sergeant Major of the U.S. Army Phoenix Recruiting Battalion.
- Flyover: a U.S. Air Force flyover during the event.
- Veterans Service Award: presented by Chair Duckworth.
- Missing man table: Taps will follow the history and introduction of the table this year.
- Music: live music from the Musical Theatre of Anthem.
- Breakfast: Ryan Lasiter of Tennessee Grill will sell breakfast.
- Resources: veteran support organizations will have information tables, and staff are talking with Youth for Troops about a possible veteran-related service project that day.
- Wreath: a special wreath presentation.
The same update puts the ceremony budget at $25,000. Past grants and donations help cover that cost, and the ACC has traditionally given $10,000 of it. On the program list, the music comes from a local theater group and the breakfast from a local restaurant.
The calendar listing gives the address and times but no parking or seating details. Watch the ACC's channels for those as the date gets closer.
The award shows who keeps the tradition going
The Veterans Service Award started in 2013. It goes to a person, group, business or organization that has shown extraordinary service or selfless dedication to Anthem's veterans. Most of the winners are individual neighbors rather than outside institutions.
Daisy Mountain Veterans won the first award in 2013. Later winners were Ray Norris in 2014, Mary Ann Derryberry in 2015, Liz Turner in 2016, John Simmons and Bob Hackett in 2017, Tom Kirk in 2018 and Ron Tucker in 2019. Youth for Troops won in 2020. Mike Spinelli won in 2021, Darlene Gonzales in 2022 and Dennis Salisbury in 2023. Thomas Derryberry and Chuck Hale shared the 2024 award, and George Walker won in 2025.
Two names from that list come back later in the week. Daisy Mountain Veterans, the first winner, organizes the parade three days after the ceremony. Youth for Troops, the 2020 winner, is the group ACC staff are working with on this year's possible service project. Nominations for the 2026 award were open through October 2.
The full week, Saturday to Sunday
The ceremony is the center of the week, and the other events fill the two weekends on either side.
| Date | Event | Time | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Anthem Autumnfest | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Upper Anthem Park, 41703 N. Gavilan Peak Pkwy. |
| Sun., Nov. 8 | Anthem Autumnfest | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Upper Anthem Park |
| Wed., Nov. 11 | Veterans Day Ceremony | 10 a.m.–11:15 a.m. | Community Park, Anthem Veterans Memorial |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | 22nd Daisy Mountain Veterans Parade | Starts 10 a.m. | Memorial Dr. and Gavilan Peak Pkwy. to the Community Center |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Market in the Park | 9 a.m.–2 p.m. | Community Park |
Daisy Mountain Veterans holds its 22nd annual parade on the Saturday after Veterans Day rather than on the day itself, which gives weekend crowds a turn. The route starts at Memorial Drive and Gavilan Peak Parkway, runs along Anthem Park, turns onto Anthem Way, and ends at the Community Center. In practice, the parade starts by the memorial and ends at the center that runs most of the week's other events.
Market in the Park has two more dates this fall. The first is October 11, before the November week begins, and the last of the year is December 13. Both run 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Community Park. The ACC's market page still says "2025 schedule," but the individual 2026 event listings carry the current dates.
What will be open or closed that month
Two ACC projects run into the same weeks, and they change what you can use while the events are happening.
The first is Liberty Bell Park. On March 25, 2026, the ACC board approved an improvement package with a not-to-exceed cost of $450,000. It covers a ramada, shade structures with benches, picnic tables, turf, a drinking fountain, tetherball, a soccer goal and work on the restroom. Staff split the timing so that some of the work would wait until after summer and not interrupt splash pad use. A June staff report said the splash pad would stay open during construction but warned the park might close for two to three days while the shade structures go in. The most recent update, in the September 23 board packet, said permits were approved and the project was on track for substantial completion by the end of October. If it stays on that schedule, the new shade and seating should be ready about a week before Autumnfest. That is still a target, though, and no date for the short closure has been posted.
The second is the Community Center pool. The same packet reports a planned closure of four to six weeks in November and December, with large Community Center projects running at the same time. If you swim laps or have kids in aquatics programs, expect a gap starting in November. The parade still ends at the Community Center that Saturday, and the building will have construction going on while it does.
In short, the ACC is running the week's events while two of its own facilities are under construction. You'll see a new park nearly finished, a pool closed for work, and a Wednesday ceremony that can't move because it depends on where the sun is at 11:11 a.m.
If family or friends are flying in for the ceremony or the parade and want to see the rest of north Phoenix while they're here, Gregory Corbett and the team can help you plan their days, from the memorial to the drive along Daisy Mountain. Let's Connect.
