Quad City school assemblies honor Veterans Day

QUAD CITIES – The Mansfield, Bridgeport, Pateros, and Brewster school districts each featured Veterans Day assemblies in their class schedules last week complete with COVID pandemic precautions to keep a guard up against greater contamination.
MANSFIELD
Mansfield held its observance on Nov. 10, with student speakers in lieu of a guest and a slide show featuring current, retired, and deceased veterans who are now serving or have served from the Mansfield area. Those currently serving in a military capacity include John Isenberg, Judah Sherwood, and Dale Tupling.
A special presentation of custom-made quilts to selected veterans was not included in this year’s event due to COVID considerations.
BRIDGEPORT
Douglas County Sheriff Kevin Morris addressed Bridgeport school students about the importance of honoring the nation’s military veterans at the school’s Veterans Day assembly last Thursday, Nov. 11.
Alexandra Valdovinos sang the National Anthem and the ASB presented a slide show. Veterans present at the service were asked to stand and be recognized.
PATEROS
Two of the three Pateros men who were prisoners of war (POWs) in WWII, Pierre “Pete” Joseph and George Leroy “Roy” Gebbers, were the subjects of a video based on their military experiences at last Thursday’s Veterans Day assembly at Pateros High School. Following the video tribute Pateros graduate (Class of 1956) and retired Army Lt. Colonel Chuck Borg presented a shadow box containing photos and medals of Roy Gebbers to his daughter Carol (Gebbers) Knowlton and her family. It replaced an earlier one lost in the 2015 Carlton Complex wildfire.
Brandon Kuehn representing the Chelan Vet Corps was on hand to thank students for their participation on the veteran cards campaign. Pateros students completed 200 thank-you cards that will be distributed to veterans locally and around the Spokane area.
BREWSTER
Veterans Day was observed at separate assemblies by the Brewster School District as a precautionary COVID preventive measure. Brewster Elementary and Middle Schools held their combined observance on Wednesday, Nov. 10, and Brewster High School on Friday, Nov. 12. Guest speakers at the latter event included two alumni who appeared via video link.
Anthony Ruiz, a 1995 Brewster graduate saw service in the Marine Corps. Alfred Nila, Class of 2019, is currently serving in the U.S. Army and is stationed in Germany.