GUILDERLAND — The town and the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce are honoring local veterans and residents currently in the military by placing pictures of them on banners.

Hometown Hero banners, sponsored by local businesses, families, and community organizations, are hung in Tawasentha Park and at various locations around town. Information, biographies, and a map of banner locations is available on the Guilderland Chamber website.

“Like the yellow forsythia, daffodil blooms, and the reappearance of robins, the Hometown Heroes Banner Project has become another harbinger of spring in Guilderland,” said Colin J. Gallup, director of the town’s Parks and Recreation Department in a release from the chamber. His department hangs the banners.

Gallup went on, “The banners can elevate a simple walk in Tawasentha Park into an experience of gratitude, a meditation on service, or a history lesson depending on the individual. While it is impossible to thank our local veterans and active duty military men and women enough, the Hometown Heroes Banner Project is an important element of our community’s gratitude.”

Twelve new banners were hung in this spring and banners from the previous two years of the project were also hung. Because of guidelines preventing gatherings so as not to further spread the coronavirus, no opening ceremony was held this year.

In October, the banners will be moved to Crossgates Mall or returned to sponsors. Unless public-gathering restrictions continue, a closing ceremony will be held in November, coordinating with the Military Awareness Day at Crossgates, to honor the Hometown Heroes of 2020.

Chad O’Hara at B95.5 recorded the biographies; the audio recordings are in progress and will be added to the website shortly.