White River Junction — Hartford-area residents shouldn’t be alarmed if they wake up and find that more than 1,000 uniformed children have taken over the town’s streets today.

It’s likely just the statewide Scouting Salute to the Veterans Parade, an annual event that regularly draws Boy Scouts from all over the state to march in honor of veterans, firefighters, police and rescue squads.

“This is a big honor for the town,” said Hartford Veterans Council President Denis Backus, who spearheaded local efforts to organize the event.

The parade is scheduled to stage at Hartford High School and, at 11 a.m., will head south on Route 5 toward downtown White River Junction, taking Route 4 to Bridge Street, followed by North Main Street, Church Street and Gates Street, before ending at VFW 2571.

While the parade is ongoing, traffic traveling on Route 5 toward the downtown area will be detoured onto Route 14 and then back to Route 5 via Christian and Bugbee streets.

Dan Reed, vice president of the Veterans Council, said that, after the initial planned location for the parade fell through earlier this year, Hartford organizers had to scramble to meet all of the town and state’s permitting requirements.

“This is a great event, because it gets the kids together with the veterans,” he said.

He estimated the total cost at roughly $8,000, with the biggest costs going to traffic control, and paying live bands to perform, both during the parade and at the VFW afterward.

The event will feature marching bands, antique rolling stock, emergency vehicles and the 40th Army Band, an instrumental band based in Green Mountain Armory at Camp Johnson in Colchester, Vt.

This is the 18th annual parade of its kind initiated by the Green Mountain Boy Scouts, which has a total of 5,900 members in 186 units. The event, which organizers tout as a “teaching moment,” typically draws more than 1,000 participants, according to Reed.

Hartford also will be the site of Veterans Day services beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 11 at the Maple Street Cemetery, after which an honor guard will proceed to Town Hall, various other locations and the VA Medical Center on North Main Street.

Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.