SOMERS, N.Y. - It may have been blustery and cold out, but the inspiring speeches, patriotic songs, and touching poems helped keep the crowd warm at Somers’ Veterans Day celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
The flag-waving marchers started at Bailey Park and wound up at Ivandell Cemetery, where Somers Daisy Troop 2630 led attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance and The Somers Middle School Advanced Choir sang the national anthem as well as “God Bless America.”
Rabbi Robbie Weiner of Temple Beth Am of Northern Westchester gave the opening prayer; the Rev. Mary McCarthy of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, the invocation; and Father John Lagiovane of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, the benediction.
Veterans Roland Ciafrone, a Marine, made a pitch for joining the American Legion and Jim “Smokey” Panettiere Jr., who earned his nickname by serving for six years as a fire marshal, got laughs with some humorous memories of serving in the Army, including the time he'd been startled awake by his sergeant banging garbage pail lids together, hurled his 220-pound frame out of the top bunk, and nearly flattened the much smaller soldier who’d simultaneously leaped out of the lower one.
Kate O’Keefe, of the Somers Veterans Committee, noted that more than 650 veterans were buried between Ivandell and St. Joseph’s Cemetery next door. She challenged folks to go take a walk and stop at a grave or two, including that of someone “who maybe hasn’t had a visitor for 100 years.”
Boy Scout Nicholas Gardella of Troop 228 read the poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley – “It matters not how strait the gate,/How charged with punishments the scroll,/I am the master of my fate,/I am the captain of my soul” -- and Somers High School senior Nico Quiñones spoke about what Veterans Day meant to him.
“I’m honored today to stand before these great men and women who bravely and selflessly risked their lives to fight for the freedom and safety we have in America today, our very own heroes who inspired the generations after them to continuously strive for greatness and live lives of honor, dedication, and service,” said Quiñones who noted that his great-grandparents were buried with military honors at Calverton National Cemetery.
The best way to honor veterans is through “our own actions,” he said, asking those gathered to “embrace their spirit. Be brave at times when all hope seems lost. Become a part of something bigger than yourself. Have the courage and compassion to fight for what you believe in, and never let that fire die out.”
Opening his keynote address, town Supervisor Robert Scorrano asked folks to look “around for a second” and to make note that “we’re standing here in our town on a quiet morning under a peaceful sky.”
“No sirens. No bombs. No looking over our shoulders to see if it’s safe to gather. That didn’t happen by accident,” he said. “That calm you feel right now was bought by men and women who put on the uniform of the United States and said, ‘I’ll go. I’ll go so everyone else doesn’t have to.’
Some came home older than their years. Some came home with scars you can see. Some came home with scars you can’t. Some didn’t come home at all.
They did this not because they were thrill seekers but because they believed in something that sounds simple and is actually incredibly hard -- that this country with all of its problems, all of its arguments, all of its unfinished work is still worth putting your life on the line for.
That’s who we’re here to honor today.”
Lastly, red, white, and blue wreaths were solemnly placed in front of the Veterans Memorial while flags snapped smartly and a few wintry snowflakes prematurely peppered the fall sky.
The crowd then retreated to The Elephant Hotel where they warmed up with coffee, cider, bagels, and other goodies.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here