The city’s Beat the Street Community Center is joining ranks with the armed forces to mark Veterans Day this weekend, both at home and on the road.
The local club is staging the “Fight for Freedom” boxing show Friday night at Wilcox Tech with a card featuring fighters from the U.S. Military Academy going up against opponents from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, UConn and Trinity College.
On Saturday, Beat the Street and the service academy boxers will head to suburban Boston to stage a show at Winchester Town Hall.
Beat the Street boxers will be in competition Friday night at Wilcox. Dancers and DJs from the Meriden youth organization are also part of the entertainment.
“We’ve got the kids performing during intermission from the dance team,” said Executive Director Larry Pelletier, who started Beat the Street as the Silver City Boxing Club 30 years ago. “Everything we do is all part of different programs in the center. We’ve evolved. We have our own audio engineering program now.”
Friday’s show starts at 7 p.m. and will feature 8-9 bouts, Pelletier said. It will be preceded by a dinner for military veterans served by Wilcox Tech culinary students from 5:30 until show time. (Wilcox Tech graphic artists chipped in by designing the event fliers.)
Both the dinner and boxing are free for veterans. Tickets for non-veterans are $20 adults, $10 students. Kids ages 6 and under are free. Proceeds benefit Beat the Street.
“It’s a fundraising event where we have an opportunity to showcase our kids and raise money for the organization,” said Pelletier.
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