Along with five other cities, John Day will hold a public ceremony Friday, dedicating Highway 26 as a POW/MIA Memorial Highway, at the Elks Lodge parking lot at 4 p.m.

A dinner will follow the ceremony at 5:30 p.m., with a choice of beef or chicken for $15 per person.

Elks Lodge member and veteran Robert Van Voorhis said in a Facebook post to bring a lawn chair to the ceremony.

“The ceremony will last longer than you will want to stand,” he said.

The POW/MIA Memorial Highway aims to honor Oregon’s nearly 1,000 Prisoners of War. According to the Oregon History Project, 200 soldiers from the state died in captivity while 1,000, from World War I to Vietnam remain MIA, or have not been found.

Sept. 18 is National POW/MIA Recognition Day, honoring POWs, MIAs and their families.