Northern Columbia County Rotary

At a weekly Northern Columbia County Rotary meeting Rotary members had the privilege to hear speaker Bill Peaks tell how he established Patriot Flight, Inc. a hub of the National Honor Flight Network.

Patriot Flight, Inc. was established with one goal, to say "Thank you" to our World War ll Veterans for their service by flying them to Washington, D.C. to see the WWll National Monument at no cost to the Veteran. It hopes to continue its operation into the future and thanking all War Veterans by taking them to see all the National War Monuments at no cost.

Our membership was so moved by this wonderful idea we quickly decided NCC Rotary members wanted to help in any way we could. Patriot Flights biggest need is money. It costs on average $16,000 to get a each flight of Veterans off the ground and headed for Washington, D.C. It is also looking for WWll Veterans.

NCC Rotary board member, Maria Lull, offered to chair a committee that would find local Veterans and sponsor as many as we could. To accomplish this goal the committee members Maria Lull, Laurie Quinn, Maria Smirensky, Lola Oberon, Donna Bemiss and Wanda McGrath decided a fundraiser would help us raise the money to accomplish our goal. The pig roast idea was born.

Each member of the committee and all members supporting the committee are doing so for reasons of their own. We all as Rotarians strongly believe in "Service Above Self" and feel our Veterans have achieved this same belief by serving our country.

Maria Lull has a strong need to give back to Veterans because her father was in WWll. Wanda McGrath feels it is her obligation to thank all Military personnel including several uncles in WWll, one a POW survivor, for all they sacrificed to keep her safe. It is her belief all Veterans, like her friend Steve who was shot in Desert Storm, should be honored by a trip to the National Monuments and has joined Patriot Flight Inc. to insure this good work continues.