Every year Oakfield-Alabama Middle-High School hosts a Veterans Day celebration. They invite anywhere from 15-25 veterans from around the area to come and give a presentation on how the military has changed their lives and what it was like to be in the military. If the veteran went to war, he is asked to bring memorabilia such as metals, helmets, etc.
This year they had approximately 18 veterans come and share their stories. Several generations were represented. Some of the veterans included in this year's program were James Neider, Pastor Mark Perkins, Red Robinson, Leonard Gordon, Ray Cianfrini, Clayton Fry and Wallace Kornow.
The event is coordinated by Patricia Trinder, a middle school math teacher, who is running it for the first time by herself. When asked why she wanted to take over coordinating the event she said “I've always felt it was a special thing that needed to be continued.” She'd helped run it in the past, but when Darlene Bakos retired she handed the reins totally over to Trinder.
We asked some of the veterans if they thought other schools should hold events like this one.
“I hope that other schools and communities would really take time to educate people of the value of their veterans,” said Cianfrini.
Kornow, a fellow Oakfield veteran, said, “I think every school should take the opportunity to invite their local veterans to this kind of program.”
Oakfield-Alabama would be delighted to see other schools in the area hold events like this one. If you would like to learn more about Oakfield's celebration, please contact Patricia Trinder. You can email her at ptrinder@oahornets.org
