PARK AVENUE: Assembly Salutes our Nation’s Veterans
When it comes to honoring America’s veterans, Park Avenue Elementary is, well, a veteran. The annual Veterans Day assembly at the school has been going on for many years, longer than anyone currently there can say for certain. Last Friday afternoon, they did it again. And, per tradition, they did it with style.
Viet Nam vet Richard Pendroy was attending his third Park Avenue Veterans Day assembly. He’s been to other ceremonies and he says Park Avenue’s is among the best. Pendroy’s daughter, Megan, teaches at Park Avenue.
There was a bit of speechmaking as befits such a ceremony. Fourth grader Justin Peters, smartly clad in his Cub Scout uniform, and 5th graders Ellie Klop, Bailee Anderson and Mattison Bowen welcomed a grateful contingent of former soldiers with some reflections on patriotism and military service. But the emphasis was on music, loud and strong!
Under the devoted direction of Janna Amendt the Kindergartners and first graders belted out well-learned renditions of Yankee Doodle Boy, You’re a Grand Old Flag, This Land is Your Land/My Land and America the Beautiful.
A check was presented to the local VA hospital for the proceeds Park Avenue kids earned selling red, white and blue beads in the community. One lucky vet from each of the four major service branches won a drawing for a stepping stone donated by Deb and Bill Roberts at One of a Find Creations. Another won the drawing for a “thank you blanket” made by Ms. Amendt, the Park Avenue music teacher who was later awarded a special commendation by Travis Holden, District 5 Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars for her service to veterans as a citizen educator.
Not to be outshone, the 2nd and 3rd graders filed in to overflow the stage and belt out the “fight songs” of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Veterans from each branch stood and joined in during their respective songs, many of them visibly moved by the show of respect. If the singers didn’t exactly take and exit the stage with the precision of a drill team on the parade ground, there was nothing lacking in the gusto department. Lots of kids had proud parents and or grandparents seated in the center section reserved for vets, and salutes in the form of exaggerated waves were many in the ranks of choristers.
The 2nd – 5th graders joined forces for God Bless America and Thank You Soldiers before Park Avenue Principal Wayne Knutson’s closing remarks. Afterwards there was a cookie reception where veterans and the Park Avenue pen pals who invited them could get together and talk face to face.
If the old soldiers didn’t already know or maybe had forgotten, this was what their service was all about.
This story is part of ”Around the District in 180 Days,” a project by the DMPS Community Relations office to share stories about events, programs and people from each and every school in Des Moines during the 2012-13 school year.
