[ad_1]
T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK
Veterans will receive some gifts of appreciation for Veterans Day thanks to St. Clairsville middle school and high school students, the city police and sponsorship from Whiteside. Front, from left, are 11-year-old sixth-grader Ariana Klee; 11-year-old sixth-grader Quinn Mamone, 11-year-old sixth grader Savannah Cisar, 13-year-old seventh-grader Treyon Gummer, 11-year-old fifth-grader Emmalynne Hanna, 15-year-old ninth-grader Sydney Baum, 11-year-old sixth-grader Kassandra Ramos, student council advisor Rebecca Schwertfeger, 10-year-old fifth-grader Kynlee Judge, and 11-year-old fifth-grader Eva Smute. in the back, from left, are 11-year-old sixth-grader Blake Higgins, Mayor Kathryn Thalman, police officer Greg Clark and 11-year-old sixth-grader Sophia Saho.
ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Students at St. Clairsville Middle School showed their appreciation for area veterans Wednesday by packing gift baskets with fruit and treats that will be distributed Thursday.
Mayor Kathryn Thalman, police Officer Greg Clark and Lt. T.J. Stewart will also be delivering the baskets around the city.
Student council adviser Rebecca Schwertfeger thanked Whiteside Chevrolet for donating to the effort.
“We were able to get enough fruit donated, gift bags donated to create 200 gift bags that we will be giving to veterans in our community. The student council members made baked goods. They made ‘thank you’ dog tags that are tied to each gift bag. They are invited to bring a veteran to breakfast Friday for our assembly. It’s just been an amazing way for students to give back to people who have given us so much,” she said, adding that the bags include baked goods, fruit and thank-you letters created by middle schoolers, either for specific veterans or general notes.
“A lot of our students do have veterans. We have 46 veterans coming for the middle school breakfast and 22 coming for the high school,” she said, adding the students are excited. “They look forward to this. They’ve been asking me since early October.”
Schwertfeger said the veterans also look forward to receiving the gift baskets.
“Last year being the first year, they weren’t expecting it, and this year is even better,” she noted.
Clark, Schwertfeger’s father, said Belmont County Senior Services staff will also deliver some baskets to veterans outside the city limits. He added that some of the veterans are also senior citizens.
“Young and old, we just want to thank a veteran,” Clark said.
Fifth-grader Emmalynne Hanna said: “I want to respect the people who fought for our country and those people who haven’t survived who have fought for our country. I want to respect every single one of them.”
The 11-year-old added that she has veterans in her family, including George Antolak and her uncle Rob Kurth.
Schwertfeger said the student council wants to give back to the community and spearheaded the effort.
“I’ve always tried to make Veterans Day as big as possible, because I come from a military family so I think it’s really important that the students understand the sacrifices that these men and women have made and how we can give back to them, not just on this day but every day,” she said. “Last year Whiteside contacted me and asked if they could help honoring our veterans, and we came up with the gift bag idea.”
Meanwhile, the annual “Wall of Honor” is on display in the middle school. Students and community members present pictures of veterans to be placed on the wall with their names and branches of service. Students are also making a “Wall of Gratitude” with letters describing the freedoms they enjoy and thanking veterans for safeguarding them.
The village of Belmont is also filling baskets to be passed out at 9 a.m. Saturday. Organizer Lorie Grob could not be reached for comment, but she previously said baskets would be filled at 6 p.m. today in the water department office below the gym, and doors are open to anyone wishing to help.
[ad_2]
Source link