Keepsakes, Dec. 27

Published 9:47 am Thursday, December 28, 2017

Helping Hands board members help again!

Several members of the Boyle-Mercer County Helping Hands Board provided Thanksgiving dinners to 10 less fortunate families. Members present from left to right are: Tommy McGirr, Reverend William Jenkins, Philip Nichols, Arnold Marshall, Joan Huffman and Wes Huffman.

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Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol

On Monday, Dec. 11, the members of Danville’s Stuart Powell Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol had the honor of participating in a ceremony to honor fallen veterans at the state capitol building in Frankfort. During the hour long ceremony C/SM Sgt. Chloe Birt presented a wreath to Gov. Matt Bevin in front of the Lincoln statue in the capitol rotunda.

The ceremony was a part of the annual “Wreaths Across America” project, which places wreaths on the graves of fallen veterans all over the country. The graveside ceremonies took place Saturday, Dec. 16; The Cadets of the Stuart Powell Squadron placed wreaths at the Lebanon National Cemetery. During the ceremony, the cadets placed the wreaths on the headstone, saluted and said the name of the fallen service member.

This is in-line with Wreaths Across Americas philosophy that we die twice, once when we take our last breath, and again when our name is spoken for the last time. They also have a credo of Remember (those who have fallen), Honor (those who continue to serve), Teach (the next generation the value of freedom). To learn more, visit wreathsacrossamerica.org.

Danville High School Honor Society brings holiday harmonies to Morning Pointe

 

DANVILLE – The sounds of Christmas filled the halls of Morning Pointe of Danville. Danville City High School’s National Junior Honor Society visited the residents at the senior living and Alzheimer’s memory care community to sing Christmas carols and spread holiday cheer.

Morning Pointe invites students of all ages to spend quality time with the seniors through fun intergenerational activities as part of the life enrichment and Meaningful Day(tm) programs.

DAR places wreath

Members of the Daughters of the American Revolution in attendance at the wreath ceremony were, from left, Gigi Biles, Judy Sieweke, Ann Pennington, Teresa McGhee, Nancy Ketelhohn, speaker, retired Air Force pilot John Bradshaw, and Stephanie Griffin.

John Bradshaw, a retired Air Force pilot and member American Legion Caswell Saufley Post #18 of Stanford, was the guest speaker at the Laying of the Wreath ceremony held Saturday, Dec. 16 at the monument in front of the Danville courthouse.

Bradshaw’s speech follows:

     “I am humbled to be a small part in honoring those men and women that gave their all for Freedom. As all veterans both past and present have done there was a ‘Check’ signed and sworn to Payable to Freedom in the amount up to and including death.

These 73 Boyle countians were among those that paid the ultimate price.

 As we can see freedom is not free.

It was not free for the Minute Men who gave their lives during the birth of our country at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill.

It was not free for those Marines who faced the ‘Halls of Montezuma’ to a distant African shore in Tripoli.

It was not free for those ‘Rag Tag Fighters’ who followed Stonewall Jackson and gave their lives in what is now the Louisiana swamp during the War of 1812.

It was not free for those ‘Rough Riders’ who died following Teddy Roosevelt on the way up San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War.

It was not free for those men who fought for their side and beliefs during the American Civil War that pitted brother against brother.

It was not free for those Dough-Boys who dies in those damnable trenches filled with gas in France during the First World War.

It was not free for those in the ‘Greatest Generation’ who fought and died on the beaches of Normandy and on the sands of Iwo Jima in World War II.

It was not free for those who froze to death above the 38th parallel one terrible Korean winter.

It was not free for those soldiers crawling in the wet dangerous rice paddies of South Vietnam and to the brave nurses who patched up their wounds during a time when it seemed to them, that their Country had Abandoned them.

It was not free for the submariners that served in the cold abyss during the ‘Cold War’.

It was not free for those airmen that flew into a hail of gun fire over ‘Baghdad’ one dark night not so long ago.

It was not free for those National Guard men and women who walked the roads of ‘Iraq’ and still walk the roads in ‘Afghanistan’ so many times, among those dastardly improvised explosive devises, placed just so, to blow their bodies into painful parts or eternity.

It was not free for our four State Department employees in ‘Benghazi’ who died while waiting for their government to decide ‘What difference it makes.’

It is not free for those who volunteer today for their country and don’t ask how much is it going to cost me, just, where do I serve?

It is not free for the families that have lost a dear one in these terrible wars.

As we lay this wreath here today ‘freedom and sacrifice’  should be pondered with reverence, solemn solitude and with quiet remembrance of those who gave their only earthly body or life for our freedom and our country.

So, is freedom free, no. And let us who live in that freedom never forget it or those who died to preserve it.

Thank you for being here and God Bless America.”

Prison Donates Gifts to Adopted Angels

BURGIN– Northpoint Training Center staff and the Lake Herrington Chapter of the Kentucky Council on Crime and Delinquency (KCCD) recently donated clothing and toys to two adopted Angel Tree angels this holiday season.

Over thirty gifts were delivered on Wednesday, Dec. 6, to the Salvation Army in Danville. The donations were received by Salvation Army Major Carey Richmond.

“A sincere, heartfelt, and huge thank you to each and every person who donated to KCCD’s two adopted angels. With this generosity, two children will receive a wonderful Christmas that otherwise would not have happened,” said KCCD Lake Herrington Chapter President Stefany Hughes. “This time of the year most people feel strain on their budget, but each person who donated still found a way to give to these two children.”

 KCCD Lake Herrington Chapter President Stefany Hughes (left) and KCCD member Cassandra Rooney (right) present Salvation Army Major Carey Richmond (middle) with donated gifts.