Niwot honors veterans

Banners adorn the streets of Niwot displaying photos, names and service descriptions of military veterans with connections to the community. The banners, as part of Niwot’s Veterans Banner Project, have been displayed annually since 2019 by the Niwot Community Association (NCA) in conjunction with the Niwot Business Association (NBA) during this time of year for families in the Niwot area to honor their loved ones’ service to our country.

The annual celebration ceremony honoring veterans will take place on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. in Cottonwood Square. The Niwot Community Semi-Marching Free Grange Band will open the ceremony with music appropriate to the occasion, including “Stars & Stripes Forever,” “Semper Fidelis,” “Respect,” “National Emblem,” “Liberty Bell March,” and the official songs of each branch of service. Niwot’s Scout Troop 161 will conduct the flag ceremony. The Niwot Patriotic Cookie Moms who provide cookie care packages for troops overseas, will serve cookies.

The Veterans Banner Project’s guest speaker will be Niwot resident Don Strecker, who will speak in honor of his three daughters, Sarah, Julie and Laura, all of whom served in the military. Strecker’s wife, Patty Strecker, is also one of the organizers of the Cookie Moms.

This year there are 42 banners throughout Niwot - 19 on Second Avenue and 23 in Cottonwood Square. The locations of specific banners can be found on the NCA’s website at https://niwot.org/veterans/. All attendees are invited to take pictures with their family’s banner(s) and are encouraged to walk throughout town to see all the banners on display.

This project started when a Gunbarrel resident, Sheila Ray, attended an NCA meeting in 2019 after moving here from Emporia, Kansas. “[Ray] helped us get the project started,” said Terry Larsen, lead organizer of the project. Ray has since sponsored two banners every year since the start of this annual project - one for her father, Eugene L Ray, and one for her husband, Leon V. Mason.

Sponsoring a banner costs $100 for a banner to be created and displayed for two years and $25 for each subsequent year. Submissions were due in September to allow time for processing and creation of new banners, and to restore others. The banners will be on display throughout November and into early December. They were hung this year on Oct. 17 thanks to the efforts of Chris Teta.

“We now have a veteran banner event team consisting of David Limbach (NCA President), Julie Breyer (NCA Vice President), Kathy Koehler (NCA Director at Large and Niwot Historical Society representative), and a new member, Chelsea Walker (NCA Director at Large for event planning),” said Larsen.

The ceremony and town event will be casual, so be sure to attend as we honor those who have served our country. Please be aware that this is a non-political event and should be viewed with the sole intent of honoring and remembering those who have protected this country in the armed forces.