BAY MINETTE, Ala.  —Gov. Robert Bentley will join other dignitaries and military veterans Friday at 1:30 p.m. for  dedication ceremonies for a veterans cemetery on State Road 225 which will be the final resting place for thousands of military personnel and their families.

The Department of Veterans Affairs released $7 million last month for construction of the cemetery on a 100-plus acre tract north of Spanish Fort and adjacent to Blakeley Historic State Park.

Spanish Fort dentist Dr. Barry Booth, who has been one of the spearheads for acquisition, said hundreds of area veterans and all veterans organizations have been invited to join in the dedication and groundbreaking.

Nearly one-third of the 350 invitations were sent to people identified by Booth and the Baldwin County Commission, according to a spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs.

Primary speakers for the ceremony include Bentley, VA Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Steve Muro, Congressman Bonner, and Admiral Clyde Marsh.

Baldwin County Commissioner Frank Burt, who has pursued funding for several years, also will speak.

The Baldwin County Commission also is set to approve filming of the dedication and groundbreaking ceremony which will be aired on the county’s access channel.

The DVD of the ceremony will be available to purchase from the Baldwin County Department of Archives and History.

The University of Mobile RamCorps will provide patriotic music and a reception will follow.