By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
In honor of Veterans Day, the town of Sherborn came together on Monday, November 11th to hold a Veterans Day Event at the Sherborn Town Hall. The event started promptly at 11 am to honor active military personnel and Veterans within the United States and especially in Sherborn.
This very special event included multiple guest speakers, performances and essay winners. Retired U.S. Army Colonel Diana Hoek welcomed everyone into the celebration before Reverend William Robinson gave his Invocation. The Presentation of Colors was then led by both the Girl and Boy Scouts before all attendees said the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Pine Hill Chorus was up next singing a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem. This led into opening remarks given by Paul DeRensis of the Select Board and the introduction of the guest speaker given by Eric Johnson of the Select Board.
This year’s guest speaker was U.S. Army Veteran Joe Clark who gave an endearing speech thanking all of those Veterans who fought so tirelessly for our country. It was then time for Select Board member Marian Neutra to introduce the essay winners of the “What Veterans Day Means to Me” contest. The winners for this year were Pine Hill Elementary student, Avery Hoffman, and Dover-Sherborn Regional High School student, Kyle Wetjen.
Closing remarks were then given by Hoek who thanked everyone for coming and honoring all of our Veterans and their families, as well as all of the active military men and women serving today. Attendees stood as the playing of the Taps was played by Ben Juo. Once the ceremony had concluded, all were welcome to stick around for a delicious lunch.
While everyone gathered around and ate their food, Hoek could be seen mingling with guests. When talking with her about this event, she detailed, “This event is really our opportunity to recognize and honor the Veterans in town. We also want to honor the family members of the Veterans because when you get deployed, your family in a way goes with you. It is also a great opportunity to share with our students in town and have them reflect on Veterans Day.”
Family, friends, and community members were in awe of the kind words shared by each speaker and saluted all Veterans for their outstanding service.
