Senior Center honors veterans with song

Decked out in red, white and blue, the SCV Senior Center honored veterans with a celebration and sing-along on Friday afternoon.

Veterans and their loved ones were invited to stand when their branch of the military’s theme song was played to allow the attendees to honor their service.

“This is the time where we can highlight them,” said Robin Clough, Senior Center director of volunteers, recreation and education.

Seniors were all given the lyrics to each of the branch’s songs then joined in for “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” and “America the Beautiful.”

Hosting the Veterans Day event also allowed the group to honor those veterans who have died and played a part in the Senior Center, Clough said.

“You feel the sprits of those who have passed,” Clough said. “You feel their presence.”

The Senior Center hosts veterans regularly. In fact, about 80 percent of the men who utilize the center are veterans, according to Clough.

Though he said he learned from his father not to discuss what happened during the war, Marine Corps and Army veteran Carl Woerder spent the celebration reflecting on the positive memories he had in the service.

“I enjoyed my time in the war,” Woerder said.

The event also provided the opportunity to honor the women who took part in the war effort domestically as a “Rosie the Riveter,” taken from the iconic World War II American propaganda posters featuring a woman with rolled up sleeves representing the millions who joined the workforce at the time, while their husbands were in service.

Playing music is the best way Senior Center Performing Arts Coordinator John Swinford knew how to honor veterans’ sacrifices, he said.

“When you think of seniors, you think of a whole different time,” Swinford said. “You look back and see what it took to get here.”

Blyth Birchall recently began volunteering with the Senior Center because she wanted to honor her father.

Birchall said her father, who was a World War II veteran, would have enjoyed the camaraderie of the center’s veteran community.

“He would have absolutely loved this,” Birchall said. “He was red, white and blue until the day he died.”

Ryan Painter/The Signal Ray Mitchell, left, and Rudy Pavini, both veterans of the U.S. Navy, sing along to “Anchors Away,” at the SCV Senior Center’s Veteran Celebration on Friday.