By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Westwood Council on Aging (COA) hosted their annual Veterans Breakfast at the end of last month. This free, full breakfast honored those who served, and their respected families, in reverence for Memorial Day.
The room was filled with honored veterans and those who are extremely grateful for their service to our country. Breakfast included an assortment of quiches, fruits and bagels with cream cheese. Coffee, water and orange juice were also provided.
While everyone enjoyed their meals, Westwood COA Director Lina Arena-DeRosa addressed the guests, “Good morning everyone! We are so glad you are all here. You know we are slowly growing this event again. After COVID, what we found is that we only had a few people come to this. But we are slowly building it again and are so thankful you all come for this. So to all my veterans and families of veterans, thank you. We are so grateful for your service.”
After Lina spoke, representatives from Natick R&D Labs, retired Army veterans David and Lauren, put on a presentation about the U.S. Military rations over the years. They also brought in some samples and visuals of these rations, including CCAR and MRE meals. A handful of the veterans in the crowd even spoke about their own experiences with these rations they had while in the service.
Selectboard member Joe, as well as Veterans Service Officer and Marine Major TJ Tedeschi, spoke to the crowd, ultimately thanking all of the veterans for their outstanding service. “I think the best part of my job,” Tedeschi stated, “is serving five towns as a Veterans Service Officer. There is a sense of community and it is especially strong in this town. A key part of my job is outreach and letting everyone know exactly what I can do for them. This country made a promise for everyone, and that promise was if you went to war, you would be taken care of later on in life. And I am lucky enough to fulfill that promise for these five towns. So thank you for coming, I love coming to these breakfasts and all these events within these towns. So thank you again, and enjoy.”
This breakfast was another major success for the Westwood COA and all in attendance are hopeful for this tradition to continue in the future.
