TJ Bond music teacher at the Big Sandy schools presented to our community an excellent program to honor the vets in our community.
The grade school children were supposed to wear red, white, and blue. It was too cold to wear summer's red and white and blue, but they did anyway.
As the Veterans came into the high school auditorium, they were encouraged to go down to the front to be honored, but no one wanted too. I guess they deserved the right to sit where they wanted.
Every student of both schools was in attendance - the oldest gray hair resident to a two-week-old baby. The auditorium was full. The grade school students filled the whole right side.
The high school choir is made up of 37 singers who started the program with the National Anthem, followed by the six-grade class leading the pledge of allegiance in sign language and the club scout cadence.
The high school choir sang Freedom Song. It was beautiful
This program always brings me to tears. It may be because of all the emotions I had while Serena served in Iraq, the pride, and the fear. I always watched my vet father tear up at the Star-Spangled Banner. It doesn't matter why, just that I do genuinely feel gratitude.
Kira Witmer, a teacher at the high school, went into the air force while she was in high school. She talked briefly about her jobs. Afterward, we watched a video America Land of the Free
When the grade school kids sang America, My Country. You could hear those children singing enthusiastically, maybe some a little off tune, but it didn't matter.
The High school band played America, The Beautiful. The program ended with the bank playing Armed Forces Medley, the theme song ? of each branch of the armed forces. I was sitting by a friend who leaned over and said, "this is the best part." As each anthem was played, the vets of Big Sandy stood to be recognized. There was a large number of vets in attendance this year. You could see some of them wiping away tears.
It is a wonderful tradition that we continue to honor our heroes.
