Wright County Fair hosts Veterans’ Day
On Saturday July 27, the Wright County Fair hosted Veterans’ Day in honor of Wright County veterans. The Fair Board has hosted a special day for veterans each year for the last nine or ten years. Veterans and their family members are admitted to the fairgrounds free of charge with the highlight of the day being a Veterans Program presented on the Free Stage by members from local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign War (VFW) Posts.
Connie Herzog, Commander, Buffalo American Legion, introduced Master of Ceremonies, Kristy Janigo, newly appointed Commander of American Legion 10th District. Janigo is a North Dakota Army National Guard veteran with six years of service. She is a staunch advocate for veterans’ affairs and a member of the Maple Grove American Legion.
Janigo opened with remarks and the posting of The Colors by the Sergeant at Arms, Greg Youmans, with flag bearers from several Wright County American Legion Posts: Maple Lake Post 131, Howard Lake Post 145, Cokato Post 209, Monticello Post 260, Buffalo Post 270, Delano Post 377, Waverly Post 305, Clearwater Post 323, and St. Michael Post 567; and VFW Posts: Wright County Post 1901 of Montrose, Maple Lake Post 7664, and U.S.S. Dorchester Post 8371 of Monticello.
The crowd was invited to sing the National Anthem along with Soloist Keri Wendroth and the Mid-Minnesota Concert Band (MMCB), directed by Kendal Kubasch.
Chaplain Gary Johnson, Buffalo American Legion, gave the invocation and thanked the Wright County Fair for honoring the area’s veterans.
Janigo thanked fair sponsors who directed their sponsorship funding to be allocated to support the fair’s Veterans Day and Veterans Program: Kwik Trip of Lacrosse, Wi; Bernatello’s of Maple Lake, Stearns Drilling and Environmental Services; Senate District 29 DFL; and T & R Meat Processing LLC in Clearwater, MN.
The keynote speaker, selected based on this year’s program theme, Veterans Health Awareness, was Zach Johnson, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, CEO and Founder of ROGER UP. “The ROGER UP program is there to give veterans and first responders an outlet to the outdoors with resources and tools to live their best lives. The program gives veterans a chance to escape and center themselves, this allows them to heal,” said Johnson.
The MMCB band played the Armed Forces Medley, also known as the Armed Forces Salute, a collection of the official marching songs of the six primary service branches of the United States Armed Forces. As each military branch song was played, affiliated veterans were asked to stand to be recognized.
Wright County Veterans Service Officer, Greg Pickard, provided an update on veterans’ health issues and recent changes affecting veterans. He wanted veterans to know he and his office staff are always available to help and support Wright County veterans.
Kerri Schwegel, U.S. Air Force veteran and Director or the Veterans’ Enrichment Resource Center in St. Cloud, provided a reading of, “The Table Set for One,” as the table was set by Staff Sergeants Richard Alford and Jalin Yakop of the Buffalo U.S. Army Recruiting Station.
The “Table Set for One” is a tribute to those veterans who never made it home. Setting the table consists of several elements attributed with special meaning related to veterans who are Missing in Action (MIA) or Prisoners of War (POW), including a small table with a white tablecloth, an empty chair, a plate with a lemon slice and salt, a single red rose, a candle and an inverted glass. Even though they cannot be with us now, they will always be in our thoughts and prayers.
U.S. Army veteran Patty Youmans, along with Scouts of Montrose Pack 312 and Troop 312 provided a flag folding ceremony attributed to the American Legion and U.S. Air Force Academy. Although there is no official flag folding ceremony, the reading attributes special meaning to each fold, which were read as the flag was folded by Senior Patrol Leader Torryn Thibodeau, Scouts Isaac Riley, Emmett Voca, and Owen Riley, led by Scoutmaster Tony Voca.
The Scouts provided five U.S. Flags flown over the U.S. Capital in Washington D.C. at the request of Congressman Tom Emmer and his staff. Troop 3312 believes we not only need to honor our fallen veterans, but also need to honor our living veterans.
Flags were presented to five worthy local veterans in honor of their military service and continued service to veterans and our communities: First Sergeant Theodore Mavencamp, Army National Guard; Master Sergeant Loren Sikkink, U.S. Army; Sergeant Zach Johnson, U.S. Marine Corps, Purple Heart recipient; Corporal Travis Culbertson, U.S. Marine Corps; and Petty Officer Third Class Nicholas Thomas, U.S. Navy.
The rifle squad, consisting of seven members of local American Legion and VFW posts and led by Lyle Barthal, St. Michael American Legion Post 567, fired three rifle volleys, which were immediately followed by the playing of “Taps” by lone bugler, Joey Berg, MMCB, in honor of our fallen veterans.
Chaplain Gary Johnson provided the benediction, which reminded us that our veterans have stories to tell, we just need to listen. The program was closed by Kristy Janigo with special thanks to all those who helped make the Veterans Program possible.
A lot of things come to mind after you attend one of these ceremonies, it makes you think of what our veterans have done and sacrificed for our country and all those who followed in their footsteps. It reminds us of the reasons that we are truly free.
