On November 13, the Village of Justice held an
appreciation dinner for the veterans that reside in the village. The event
was held at the Lipinski Community Center by invitation. There were 30 plus
veterans and their spouses in attendance.
The veterans were treated to a fine dinner and were presented with raffle
gifts that were donated by local businesses. Many local officials were on
hand to address the veterans including, Lyons Township Supervisor and newly
elected Judge Pat Rodgers, Jerry Hurkes Chief of staff for Congressman
Lipinski, Mayor Wasowicz, Clerk Svoboda, Village Trustees and special guest
speaker Army Lieutenant Daniel Johnson.
The evening started by
the Village of Justice Police Department Honor Guard presented the colors
which was followed by the pledge of allegiance Village Treasurer Ed Rusch
gave a heartfelt opening statement on how much we all appreciate the service
and sacrifice that all veterans have given to our country. Trustee Jeff
Kranig, the evenings emcee, introduced all of the guest speakers and when it
was time to raffle the donated gifts, he along with Tina Bibro and Linda
Eichorn, of Bridgeview Bank had the honor of presenting the gifts to the
veterans. All the veterans were presented with a certificate of appreciation
from the village.
As one looked around the room you could see the happiness and joy on the
veterans’ faces on being recognized and appreciated. One of the Vietnam
veterans said that when they came back from Vietnam they looked were down
on, ridiculed and dishonored. He stated that this appreciation dinner made
up for some of that, of which he was grateful to the village for this for
all veterans.
Mayor Wasowicz made a
statement of how much he and the village appreciated their service and that
the village wanted to show them that they are not forgotten and to say
“Thank You”.
Mayor Wasowicz, whose son served in Iraq, continued, he knows of the
sacrifice that is involved when you serve your country or have a loved one
in the service. He stated that this kind of appreciation dinner is long over
do and wishes to start a new tradition in the village and honor our veterans
every year in this way. He along with Clerk Svoboda and the Trustees look
forward to next years’ event.
A special thank you goes out to, organizers Ed Rusch
and Trustee Jeff Kranig, the many sponsors, Special Events coordinators Anna
Sako and Barbara Stimatz, and to volunteers Melanie Kuban, Kathy Rusch and
Kim Rusch
We all owe a debt of gratitude to every veteran that
has ever served our country.
Without their sacrifices we would not be able
to be “The land of the free”.
Show your appreciation and “Don’t Forget, Thank a Vet”.
To view a complete slide show of this event please click
HERE
