On Monday, June 12th, Michels & Lundquist Funeral Home located at 5228 Trouble Creek Road, New Port Richey, FL hosted an amazing Veteran Pinning Ceremony in honor of Women Veterans Day and to honor all Veterans. Special Guest Speakers included Major General Karl Horst, US Army (Ret) and Colonel Sarah Abel, US Air Force. Their messages were very inspirational and a reminder to all that our young Americans need more Veterans as role models and mentors.
Special Guests in the house also included County Commissioner Jack Mariano and Colonel Jerry Custin US Air Force (Ret) who attended on behalf Congressman Gus Bilirakis's office and assisted with pinning our veterans. The ceremony began with an opening prayer led by Chaplain Tom McQueen followed by The Pasco Young Marines doing a presentation of colors and Colonel Sarah Abel singing a powerful and moving rendition of The National Anthem.
A special tribute and moment of silence was made to honor those who served in America's armed forces and remain missing as well as our Gold Star Families, there was not a dry eye in the house. The ceremony concluded with a special rendition of the Military Medley performed by vocally gifted Sabrina Curtis, who is a music therapist and received a standing ovation for her performance. Both Honor Flight and Honor Ride were represented to inform veterans of their services as well as the local Patriot Guard Riders showing up to support this special day.
The Elks Lodge of New Port Richey #2284 donated a star cut from a retired flag placed in all of the Veteran gift bags, and the Elks Lodge of Aripeka #2520 surprised and presented a check for $500 to Michels & Lundquist in support of the event. Michels & Lundquist in turn, made a donation of the same amount to Support The Troops, a non profit that ships care packages to the forward operating bases in Afghanistan. Michels & Lundquist announced this was their first Annual Women Veterans Day event, and all in attendance agreed it will be bigger and better next year.
Thank you to the leadership team of Michels & Lundquist - Drew Johnson, Vice President and special thanks to Patricia Rodriguez, Director of Advanced Planning for putting together an amazing program for our Veterans. We look forward to seeing everyone next year!