ACROSS GENERATIONS
High school clubs host veterans at brunch
FRANCONIA » The message at the Nov. 13 Veteran’s Brunch in the Souderton Area High School Library was simple and straight forward.
“We’re excited to have you and host veterans from all different branches and we appreciate your service to our country,” said Hannah Lavery, a senior at the school and president of the Interact Club, which with the Support Our Troops Club, hosted the event.
“Thank you veterans. Thank you for everything, period,” said SAHS Principal Sam Varano.
“I would like to thank all of you for coming out today. It means a lot to all of us. Thank you for your service,” said student and Support Our Troops Club Communications Officer Dylan Bach.
The annual event, during which students and local military veterans eat together is about “getting to know each other,” said Jaelyn Lepore, an Interact Club member and a junior at the school.
“We serve breakfast and sit and talk with them,” she said.
This year, 36 veterans, including ones from World War II and since, were registered for the brunch, Lepore said.
The brunch was started by teacher Kathy Perricone, whose father is a veteran, Lepore said. Perricone and teacher Jen Detwiler are co-advisors of the Interact Club, a service club for students in association with Rotary International. The Souderton Area High School Interact Club works with the SoudertonTelford and Harleysville Rotary clubs.
Retired U.S. Navy Commander Doug Lavery, Hannah’s father and the keynote speaker, said shortly before giving his comments that he “wanted to highlight the service of veterans and what it means to be a veteran.”
“Our country and this world are blessed by having men and women so willing to serve in our armed forces. Collectively, we veterans played a small role and marked our time on a long and storied tale of the Soldier, Marine, Sailor, Airmen. We and those that
“Thank you veterans. Thank you for everything, period.” — SAHS Principal Sam Varano
came before, those serving now and those after — all have the same task of freedom and sacrifice,” Lavery, who served for 22 years, said.
He shared about his father’s participation early in the morning of Christmas Day 1944 at Bastogne as the outnumbered American soldiers fought off the German attack and protected Belgian civilians. The Siege of Bastogne was part of the Battle of the Bulge.
“I share this story with you to put into perspective the sacrifices veterans made and make. Many have similar stories in a different place and a different time,” Lavery said.
The contrast between the desert heat of more recent conflicts and the freezing cold at Bastogne is emblematic of the things veterans did and would gladly do again, he said.
Along with celebrating service on Veterans Day, “we cannot forget those who we have lost, whether on the field of battle or to time,” Lavery said, saying “we honor them, miss them and think fondly of our time in history together.”