County celebrates Veterans Day

By Theo Tate
Posted 11/18/21

When the power went out before Jonesburg Elementary School’s Veterans Day Celebration began on Nov. 11 at Logan Hancock Gymnasium, Principal Jenny Krattli didn’t panic.

“I …

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County celebrates Veterans Day

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When the power went out before Jonesburg Elementary School’s Veterans Day Celebration began on Nov. 11 at Logan Hancock Gymnasium, Principal Jenny Krattli didn’t panic.


“I didn’t want to cancel it,” Krattli said. “We worked hard to plan it. It’s Veterans Day and our veterans are important to us.”


During the 23-minute event, veterans from all of the military branches -- Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines -- were recognized. Also, four students -- Aurora Gibson, Mylee Hans, Weston Parmalee and Kayleigh Testerman -- got to recite their Veterans Day essays and eight students picked up awards from the Veterans Day coloring contest.


“I feel that being patriotic and honoring America are very important to the Jonesburg and Montgomery County communities,” Krattli said.


There was also singing from the JBE students. At the halfway point of the event, the students were singing “This Land Is Your Land” when the power came back on.


Moments before the event, a squirrel chewed out one of the power lines, causing the power outage. Krattli said even though the school didn’t have any lights, the students were looking forward to the Veterans Day event.


“(The year) 2020 taught us how to be flexible and show grace,” the principal said. “Our veterans did a great job with that and so did our students. I’m just really excited that we were still able to honor them even with the hiccup. We’re getting good at going over the speed bumps.”


JBE’s Veterans Day ceremony was the first time since December 2019 that the school held an in-person event. Last year, a virtual ceremony was held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


“That was very upsetting to our students because they enjoy sitting with their veterans,” Krattli said. “We were very happy to have it back in-person this year.”


The event was presented by the Jonesburg Elementary Student Council that includes Hans, Owen Brown, Alyssa Davis, Hensley Miller, Jakob Hoener, Shenell Sorrell, Ava Rhodes and Brayden Toenges.


“They do a lot of really good things,” Krattli said. “They sell ice cream every first Friday of the month to raise some money to help plan things like Veterans Day and other fun things for our students. They’re just a voice for our students.”


Maci Teson, Laci Dempsey, Clara Davolt, Nova Roberts, Aubrey Oden, August Ridgley, Emelia Hans and Violette Brill were the winners of the coloring contest. Students from preschool through third grade were given the opportunity to color a Veterans Day picture honoring one of the branches of the military.


There were several other Veterans Day events around Montgomery County on Nov. 11.


Immaculate Conception Church in Montgomery City had a 50-minute ceremony that included a reading of the names of the 13 soldiers who died in the Afghanistan attacks on Aug. 26 and a presentation of IC student Owen Merz winning $75 in the Patriot Pen contest. IC School has a Hallway of Heroes that honors all of the veterans.


Wellsville Post 3056 hosted the third annual Veterans Day Ceremony at the Gamma Road Lodge nursing home in Wellsville. During the seven-minute ceremony, two of the Gamma Road Lodge residents -- James Robertson and Bud Oligschlaeger -- received commemorative coins.


“As we celebrate our veterans on this Veterans day, I feel honored to be standing up here in front of so many people who are interested in honoring our veterans,” Post 3056 Commander Jerry Fischer said. “How wonderful it is to see the spirit of patriotism blowing in our country.”


Post 3056 also participated in a closed Veterans Day ceremony at Wellsville-Middletown R-I School.


Montgomery County High School held a Veterans Day Ceremony that included a presentation of an $8,000 check that was made to the VFW Post 4436 from the school’s FBLA group.

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