SHARING HISTORY

Students and veterans interact during Veterans Day Luncheon

FRANCONIA » More than 115 students and 41 veterans took part in this year’s Souderton Area High School second annual Veterans Day Luncheon.

That’s a few more veterans than last year, but quite a few more students, said Kathy Perricone, a math teacher at the high school and advisor to the Interact Club, which, along with the Support Our Troops Club, held the luncheon Nov. 10 in the high school library.

“It was really great to talk to all the veterans and hear their stories and to spend time with a bunch of different people who have a lot of different experiences that I don’t have,” said Jeremy Tammaro, a senior at the school and president of the Interact Club. “It was great to hear all their stories, talk to them and then learn what it was like to be in the military.”

The veterans also asked a lot of questions about what school is like for the present-day students, he said.

“They’re telling us a lot about how different things were when they were younger,” he said. “It’s great to hear both perspectives.”

“This year, a lot of the veterans actually came with pictures to share,” Perricone said.

There were also some who came in full uniform, she said.

“We don’t ask them to do that, but they chose to do that,” Perricone said, “so that was

kind of neat.”

The veterans all live in the local area and included some who came on a bus from the Peter Becker Community, she said.

Abby Tammaro, a sophomore at the school, Jeremy’s sister and the Interact Club’s public relations/ communications officer, said she went from table to table and got to hear part of the conversation at each.

Hearing about the veterans’ experiences was eyeopening, she said, giving as an example, a surgeon who talked about his first overseas experience in the military being with a patient whose entire back was cut open.

“It’s not something you hear about every day,” she said.

“It was nice to see the interaction between the students and veterans,” she said.

“You could tell that the veterans had a lot to say and that the students really enjoyed listening and

enjoyed their stories,” Abby Tammaro said. “It was also nice to see the students connecting with their stories and sharing stories about their own life and also people they know who have been in service.”

The luncheon is also a good opportunity for the students to talk to people they hadn’t previously known and to learn more about the experiences of people in the community, she said.

The Interact Club is sponsored by the Harleysville and the Souderton-Telford Rotary clubs, she said.

BOB KEELER — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Souderton Borough police Chief James Leary and other military veterans take part in the Veterans Day Luncheon with Souderton Area High School students. The school’s Interact Club and Support Our Troops Club held the luncheon on Friday, Nov. 10.

BOB KEELER — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA About 115 Souderton Area High School students and 41 U.S. military veterans took part in the Nov. 10 Veterans Day Luncheon. Held in the school library, the luncheon was organized by the school’s Interact Club and Support Our Troops Club.