Ossining kids heading to Montrose
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- November
- 19
Fourth- and fifth-graders from Ossining’s Claremont School will visit the Montrose VA hospital on Friday (Nov. 21) to visit with veterans, hand out candy and play some jazz.
The Claremont Jazz Band will jump and jive at the hospital from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Every year, I really look forward to our trip, as I know the students, the veterans and the staff at the hospital do as well,” said Claremont Teacher Ron Whitehead, who organizes the annual event. “It is a great thing to see, the mess hall staff smiling and waving, the veterans saying thank you and dancing by their lunch tables.”
The visits started nine years ago, when Whitehead, a U.S. Army veteran of Operation Desert Storm, decided to invite the Jazz Band to join him on a trip to the hospital. The concerts started out small but soon moved to the dining hall in order to accommodate more of the veterans, who wanted to attend. The students also enjoy the personal interaction of meeting the veterans while handing out candy.
“Being a veteran makes these visits very personal and makes me think of the friendships I had when in the Army,” said Whitehead. “I think of the people serving our county overseas everyday. It is amazing to think that everyday, people sacrifice so much.”
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 3:02 pm by Rich Liebson. 
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