FREE VETERAN'S SKATE PARTY

My name is Shirley and last year I took my 97 year old WWII Army Veteran dad, Stanley Holmes (who served at the Battle of Normandy and in other European theaters), to the Collins-Moylan Skating Arena in Greenfield, MA. As a child and into his life as a father he was an avid ice skater -- I called him the Fred Astaire on Ice.  In his mid nineties he had a dream of skating again so as a 2015 Veteran's Day surprise I took him, in his wheelchair and Army coat and hat, to the arena in Greenfield.  I was fortunate that Barney Collins, a member of the Franklin County Sheriff Department's hockey team, was there with his family and saw my non-skating ability predicament and offered to "skate" my dad around the rink. We even put ice skates on him!  It was the most memorable occasion for him --- and he told the entire story at the Veteran's Day ceremony at the nursing home upon his return.  Barney and I discussed organizing a skating day for Veterans but had to put the idea on hold.  I contacted Barney the beginning of September this year to tell him my dad had just passed away -- he had already been looking forward to pushing him around again this year. From that sad discussion we decided the time was right to make our idea come true.  So on Saturday, November 5, 2016 the Sheriff's Department and myself are organizing a FREE 2-hour skate time from 4:00-6:00PM for Veterans and Active Military of any ability/disability (hockey skating sleds will be avaiable for the latter) and their families with a hockey exhibition game to follow from 6:00-7:00PM with the Sheriff's hockey team.    The ice time and skate rental are not being provided for free so we are asking for your support to make this day possible.  Food donations have been acquired but some food and paper products have to be paid for.  We are hoping to reach our goal before the end of October to pay for this day which is in memory of my dad and in honor of all Veterans.  The local Disabled American Veterans Scott Vetterling Chapter #33 will be receiving any extra donations we collect.  We are in the process of designing a poster with information on how to contact us -- in the meantime any questions can be emailed to me at:  [email redacted].   If you are signing up to attend please identify your service affiliation, how many adults and children will be coming, how many need skate rentals and if you need wheelchair or sled assistance.  Also please let us know if you are willing to assist those who are unable to skate alone or if you would be willing to help serve food.  We are calling this party the "1st Annual" with the optimism that it will be wildly successful and that future FREE Veteran's activities can be arranged.  I wish to pre-thank everyone with parsecs of gratitude who contribute to make this Veteran's Day an enormous and memorable and fun-filled event for all of our Veterans who have given their service for the United States of America.