by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
A good time – and a good lunch – was had by all when Sartell Middle School sponsored its annual “Lunch with a Veteran” last Monday, Veterans Day.
At some of the tables in the large lunch room, veterans sat with students. The veterans were related to one or more students as parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins or siblings.
At both lunch shifts, the American Legion Honor Guard of Sartell welcomed guests as they arrived. The food staff decorated the kitchen, serving areas and tables for the event.
At one table veteran Steve Kelly sat with his daughter, Kaitlyn, 13, a seventh-grader. Kelly served in the U.S. Navy aboard the U.S.S. Yosemite in 1989. His wife, Jennifer, is a student supervisor at Oak Ridge Elementary and so could not attend the luncheon with her husband and daughter.
“I think this ‘Lunch with a Veteran’ idea is fantastic,” said Steve, as his daughter nodded in agreement. “It helps keeps veterans in the front of everyone’s minds. And the younger generation can learn about the sacrifices made by so many men and women who served their country.”
After the lunches were all served and eaten, everyone gathered in the middle school’s gymnasium for two back-to-back ceremonies to honor veterans. (For more details, see story and editorial about the middle-school events in this paper).
U.S. Navy veteran Steve Kelley and his daugher, Kaitlyn, enjoy lunch together at the Sartell Middle School’s annual Veterans Day “Lunch with a Veteran” program.
Holly Cofer of Sartell, a U.S. Army National Guard member, stands in the Sartell Middle School lunch line with her brother, Kovey, who is an eighth-grader at the school.
Members of the American Legion Post 277 of Sartell await visitors to Sartell Middle School. From left to right, they are Virgil Heron, U.S. Army veteran; Dick Clemens, a U.S. Army veteran who served during the Korean War; Chuck Haselkamp, who served in the U.S. Navy during the war in Iraq; and Flip Mastey, the Legion commander and U.S. Army veteran who served in South Korea during the Korean War.
Food server Jodi Hennemann prepares to serve lunch to Sartell Middle School students Gabby Terres and Clay Fenlason.
Three students in the Sartell Middle School cafeteria said they were happy to have veterans visit their school on Veterans Day. From left to right are Austin Haus, Marie Anderson and Alexis Koltes.
