Veteran's Day Lunch

Thank you to everyone who made this event so special ❤️

From the Gardner News:

Veteran heroes thanked 

Students at J.R. Briggs Elementary connect with soldiers over lunch

ASHBURNHAM — The John R. Briggs Student Council invited veterans to lunch on Thursday, and 61 veterans accepted the invitation to sit with their children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews, or just connect at a table with kids who look up to them as heroes.

“The day was wonderful,” said Student Council adviser Kristi DiSalle. “It always is. I love how the kids look at the veterans like they are superheroes, which they kind of are.”

DiSalle said she also loved how veterans came to the luncheon and walked around to the tables of children that had no veteran to bring to lunch and simply talked to them.

There were a lot of hugs and a lot of proud smiles. One veteran’s lunch date got sick and went home, but he stayed to be with the students and hear the letters of thanks while he enjoyed lunch. Ken Haenisch is an Air Force veteran drafted out of Mount Wachusett Community Col­lege to serve in Vietnam. He is a member of the Ash­burnham Veterans of Foreign Wars post and the American Legion and shares history often with students in the local elementary and high school.

Veteran Tom Patty said that he has come to the luncheon for a couple of years, first with his granddaughter Nola, and now with his grandson Finn.

“I am retired from the Army now, but I still have all the uniforms,” he said. “When I talk about joining the Army, I stress a lot that education doesn’t stop when you leave school. I tell kids that go in the military, go in and learn a trade that is going to take you into a civilian world.”

Patty said he is a diesel automotive mechanic who works on heavy equipment.

“I worked on every piece of equipment the military had, and I worked on the civilian side on fire engines and police cars. I did all that stuff.”

DiSalle said one veteran with three sons in John R. Briggs celebrated Veterans Day with three different lunches so he could spend time with his three boys.

Children stood before their peers and guests and thanked the veterans for defending the country, calling them “heroes” for protecting and serving the United States.

The lunch was a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and the fixings, appropriate for saying thank you to all who served.