Thursday, Nov. 08 2012 5:29PM
VETERAN’S DAY
An important ‘Note’
The Gamber Center pays tribute to nation’s war veterans
By Toriano Porter
tporter@lsjournal.com
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ReprintAs far as tribute’s go, the Gamber Center’s latest to honor the nation’s war veterans is a big deal.
As volunteers cleared tables and stored away the remnants of a red, white and blue-themed cake, Yvonne Meier, one of the tribute’s organizers, took time Nov. 8 to explain just how important the local senior community center’s event is to some.
“I think the Gamber Center needs to acknowledge the veterans,” Meier said. “That’s kind of what the Gamber Center is all about. It’s a place where seniors can come and be together and talk about old times and find a friendly face. This is the one day, especially during the year, that we need to acknowledge these folks. And there were some women veterans here today, too, and that was really fun to find that out.”
The Gamber Center’s annual Veteran’s Day salute featured a tribute to veterans by the Men of Note singing group, included the pledge of allegiance led by the Air Force Junior ROTC at Lee’s Summit North High School and concluded with a group picture of veterans in attendance as well as the divvying of the vanilla cake topped with icing hued in America’s official colors.
Putting the tribute together was a group effort, Meir said, and included the generosity of the guest of honor.
“The wonderful Men of Note came and sang today,” Meier said. “Twenty wonderful Men of Note for free. There’s a group of about seven or eight of us that get (the tribute) together – the Men of Note, the decorating and making sure there is enough cake here for everybody. Acknowledging the veterans; that’s what’s important.”
For army veterans like Jim Mitchell, who served during World War II, the tribute was a nice touch leading up to the officially observance of the federal holiday Nov. 11.
“This is my first time I’ve been to it here, but it was fine,” Mitchell said shortly after ceremonies ended. “I thought it was pretty good.”
Mitchell was among a handful of veterans who milled about to exchange stories with fellow vets and supporters of the tribute.
“It was great,” Mitchell said of the tribute. “They did a good job.”
