Geneva students to honor armed forces
Coming up on Tuesday, precisely one week after Election Day, is Veterans Day. It's a day to honor those who served in our Armed Forces, preserving our American way of life - including the right to change our government via the ballot box.
Students in Geneva will honor our nation's veterans in special fashion this Veterans Day and you're invited.
Food for Flight
Let Geneva High School students do the cooking on Tuesday - and help our World War II vets at the same time. The high school is hosting Food for Flight from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the Viking Commons at the school. Dinner includes three types of chili - red, white and vegetarian - and salad made by the high school's Culinary Classes, plus bread from Great Harvest Bread Co.
Student Council members are helping out, along with other volunteers, and student musicians will perform during the evening. Tickets are $10 each, and proceeds benefit Honor Flight Chicago, which sends World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., to see the new World War II Memorial there.
Geneva senior Meagan Holbrook, who is the student council's vice president of activities, is the guiding light behind this dinner. She visited the memorial this past summer and learned of flights to take veterans to see the memorial. And she wanted other veterans to have a chance to see the memorial as well.
And she thought big. Her efforts to raise money for the nonprofit group began with conversations with Jean Marie Capp, president of Honor Flight Chicago.
Once she considered a fundraiser, staff members jumped in quickly to help, Meagan said. She and Associate Principal Shonette Sims zeroed in on the idea of a dinner, then Chris Buttle, who works with the Student Council, suggested chili.
"And Mrs. (Kathy) Jankovic (family and consumer science teacher) was really creative with it."
Tickets have been sold in the counseling and advising office, with Lisa Schwer handling the sales, Meagan said, lauding Schwer for all her help. And Terry Emma Burns, student activities coordinator has helped Meagan in ways great and small, Meagan said.
"Mrs. Burns has helped me so much," Meagan said, adding she appreciates everything that everyone has done to make this dinner happen.
The original thinking was to hold a USO kind of show, Holbrook said, hence the performances by student musicians.
For information or tickets, please call (630) 208-5091. Enjoy dinner - and know that a World War II vet will thank you.
Special ceremony
The Food for Flight is the evening. Genevans can spend their morning at the 12th annual Geneva Middle School Veterans Day ceremony.
This incredibly moving event will be from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Geneva Middle School North. Capt. Van Stone of Geneva will once again speak, as he has before at past ceremonies. During his tour in Vietnam he received a Silver Star, three Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts, said social studies teacher Jim Cook, the guiding light behind the annual ceremony. Stone will highlight a video, set to music, called "Before You Go," a tribute to vets of World War II and the Korean War. (There's also a version for those who served in Vietnam.)
"It's a photo story," explained Cook. "It's geared mostly for World War II vets, and says, basically, before you pass on, we wanted to say thanks, one more time."
The video can be seen on: www.managedmusic.com/php/BYGIndex.php?page=playBYG.
"Our social studies teachers do such a great job of emphasizing how important these veterans are," said Cook.
For example, he said, "World War II was not a slam dunk." And he pointed out that veterans of that conflict are dying at a quick rate. Estimates are that 1,000 WWII vets are dying each day.
"We cannot thank those veterans enough," Cook said. The flags of all five military branches, and our United States flag, naturally, will be presented and then displayed. Each veteran in the audience will be recognized, standing as their song (such as "From the halls of Montezuma" and "Anchors Aweigh") is played.
After the ceremony ends, students from each middle school team will spend the first hour of the school day doing something special with veterans invited by the respective teams' students.
If you've never been to the ceremony, try to go. It is wonderful, moving and heartwarming.
With great pride, Donald Stewart traveled from Michigan to attend six of those ceremonies, three each with his two Geneva grandchildren. He also participated in the post-ceremony conversations in the team centers after the ceremony and was a big hit with the middle school students, including two of my own children.
Stewart served in the Navy during World War II and is the father of Laura Stewart of Geneva, and the grandfather of Emma and Max Conlon. He is one of the thousands of WWII vets who passed on this year. In honor of his military service, he is buried at the Veterans Cemetery at Fort Custer, in Battle Creek, Mich.
A tip of the hat, a salute, our heartfelt thanks to him - and to all of our veterans. This day is for you, with our gratitude.