Weedsport Celebrates Veterans, HFS Honors Leonardi
Weedsport got an early jump on celebrating Veterans Day, and this is a school community that knows how to celebrate our veterans in style! USO style! 35 veterans were on hand this year at Weedsport Elementary School and more than a dozen of them had flown on an Honor Flight mission to Washington! Four of the veterans served in World War Two, and the oldest was 97! Treat yourself to an extensive picture gallery of the special day on our Facebook page.
At the ceremonies held this year on November 9, Honor Flight Syracuse was proud to present Theresa Leonardi with our Volunteer Appreciation plaque, thanking her for so many years of organizing this celebration with the high school’s Participation in Government class. Jeff Bastable and Rob Schoeneck made the surprise presentation to Theresa. She later told us that she’s simply “humbled to be in the same room” with so many local men and women who have served our country in uniform. “When the goal is to honor the veterans and then to have them honor YOU,” she said, leaves her almost speechless. Well, Theresa, your actions have always spoken more loudly than words.
We’re talking about a decade of involving your students with Honor Flight, as mission volunteers and “mail call” organizers. We’re also talking about always being there for veterans and your students, in a teaching career that year after year helped the next generation to appreciate and respect the democratic freedoms that we enjoy, freedoms defended and preserved by the Armed Forces of the United States of America. While we’re at it, a tip of the hat to Theresa Leonardi’s 36-year Weedsport field hockey coaching career. 27 of those years were at the varsity level, where Weedsport won four Section 3 championships!