All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Pat Murphy with Joe Gonzalves, a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. Gonzalves and his wife Marty Butcher live in Niwot, and attended the Niwot Veterans ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 7. Gonzalves served as a helicopter mechanic in the US Army (Infantry), and was shot down during the Vietnam conflict.
On Nov. 7, the Niwot Community Association held a ceremony honoring veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Assistant Scoutmasters Brian Kelleghan ( left) and Justin Brooks lead Scout Troop 161 in presenting the colors to open the proceedings.
Volunteering with the Niwot Cookie Moms, refreshment organizer Julie Nelen-Breyer (center) chats with Bill and Jill Whitener and other volunteers in front of the Left Hand Grange following Niwot's Veterans ceremony.
For the month prior to the ceremony, the Niwot Community Association honored local veterans with more than 30 full-color banners along 2nd Avenue and in Cottonwood Square. To read more about the service members in the banners, visit niwot.org/veterans.
A crowd of almost 100 gathered at the intersection of Franklin Street and Second Avenue on Sunday, Nov. 7, to honor veterans of the U.S. armed forces, including some 44 veterans with local connections featured on banners hung throughout the Niwot business district.
The Niwot Community Semi-Marching Free Grange Band, under the direction of Debbie Benson, began with a selection of John Philip Sousa marches and other tunes, including Yankee Doodle Boy, Respect, The Thunderer, America, Stars & Stripes Forever, and The Washington Post, as the crowd gathered. At 2 p.m. David Limbach, president of the Niwot Community Association, began the ceremony with the presentation of the colors by Boy Scout Troop 161 of Niwot.
Following the band's performance of The Star Spangled Banner, Limbach explained the origins of the banner program, noting that a local resident first suggested borrowing the idea from her hometown of Emporia, Kansas.
Standing near the banner of veteran William "Bill" Mason, father of Niwot resident Jill Whitener, Limbach recognized several in the audience whose service was honored with banners in downtown Niwot and Cottonwood Square. Among the several honored veterans on hand was former Air Force officer Kirk Stewart, who was on hand to perform with the community band.
Limbach read the story of one of the veterans honored, Andy Tubach, chosen at random from all of the biographies found on the NCA website, http://www.niwot.org. Tubach, who lives in Niwot with his wife Amy and two children, served in the Navy, where he was the solo scuba diver on his nuclear-powered fast attack submarine.
As the band played a medley of the six service songs, including Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and National Guard, Limbach asked all veterans in the audience to raise their hands and be recognized.
Eric Bergeson, president of the Niwot Business Association, which co-sponsored the program with the NCA, thanked the crowd on hand, which included many of the sponsors of the banners.
Limbach concluded the ceremony with an invitation to a walking tour of the banners, and offered refreshments provided by the Niwot Patriotic Cookie Moms. The Community Band performed a second set of music, including Semper Fidelis, Liberty Bell March, National Emblem, Hogan's Heroes March, and You're a Grand Old Flag as the crowd enjoyed cookies, coffee and apple cider.
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