Front Page
VETERANS DAY
Veterans Day is a day for all Americans to honor all veterans. This day was known as Armistice Day originally, as it was a day established to remember the armistice or agreement that was signed marking the end of WW1, on November 11, 1918. Veterans are celebrated across the nation on this day. Let us all remember the service of our wonderful men and women and let us be reminded to fulfill our obligations to our veterans. With that, Lake Geneva is celebrating veterans in a few different ways.
As always, the Lake Geneva Middle School is hosting its annual Veterans Day event. On Monday, November 11, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. the community is invited to attend the Veterans Day Celebration in the middle school gym. The program will include patriotic music performed by the school’s band and choir. Colors will be posted by the color guard from post 24 of the American Legion. Lunch will follow the ceremony at 11 a.m. and all are invited to attend. The schools and students are honored to host this annual event and honor all veterans.
The Lake Geneva Public Library will be having a Veterans Day Program the day after. Tuesday, November 12, 2024, from 4;30 p.m., until 5 p.m., at the Riviera Ballroom Central Denison and East View Choirs will honor our veterans with some patriotic songs. This is a free public event that the library hosted in previous years. The number of attendees has motivated the Lake Geneva Library to get approval from the city for the use of the Riviera Ballroom. When the choir concludes the attendees head over to the veteran’s memorial and poppy statue to take a moment to appreciate all our veterans have done and have sacrificed for us.
There are also many places locally and nationally for veterans to get a little something to eat and drink as businesses see this as the least, they can do. Nationally several chains have great deals for veterans-on-Veterans Day, including Culver’s, Dunkin Donuts, Chili’s, Mod Pizza, and Starbucks.
Let’s all remember what this day is about and try to show our gratitude and thank our veterans. Lake Geneva and the communities around the lake are well served by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, both outfits that do a great job of not only taking care of local veterans but making sure that those who served are celebrated in a way that illustrates their honor and brings some attention to their very survival after gone through hell and returning home to a public that so many times does not understand what they went through or continue to go through because of PTSD and other service-related maladies.
“Thanks for Your Service” has become a mantra that’s about as meaningful today as “Have a Nice Day,” so if you see a vet grimace when you use that phrase you might say something in addition to that. How about “can you spend a few minutes to share your story?” Vets mostly don’t get a chance to relate what happened to them individually and it can be very hard for those vets who’ve served time in combat to be among the crowds or large number of people to stand up and do public speaking. The rarity of such men and women is such that you are not likely to meet in your life one of them who’s been in ground combat. If you meet one, then make sure it’s a memorable event for both you and that veteran. The vet may not be able to show how much he or she might feel about your well-meaning attention but be assured they feel it at their very cores. Remember as well that the number of combat vets is decreasing rapidly as they age and no new conflicts abroad have arisen.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the country won’t have that many tested and true vets to be on hand in the event of another war.
