BUFFALO, N.Y. — Veterans Day is on Saturday, November 11. Several Western New York schools will be closed on Friday, November 10 for the holiday. On Thursday, November 9, many schools are welcoming Veterans on campus to honor and celebrate their service.
West Seneca schools are welcoming dozens of Veterans for their annual Lunch with a Veteran and Veterans Day Assembly. A tradition that's been going on for five years.
West Elementary School's Lunch with a Veterans isn't your normal Veterans Day event. Kristen Frawley the principal at the school, said it's about slowing down enough to have a meal with someone special that has served our country.
Students can invite Veterans like a parent, grandparent or even a family friend. So far, there are about 160 students having lunch today with either one or Veteran two guests. The goal is to create special moments for these kids and hopefully, a special one for Veterans too.
"For our kids, these are probably conversations about when they served, what it was like. And it's kind of nice for them to have the opportunity to talk to maybe their grandfather about it or a great uncle or a family friend who has served. Because a lot of times I don't know if we slow down enough to have those conversations with one another and its nice for the kids to be able to do that with these special people," Frawley said.
Frawley said the students are really excited to have this one-on-one time with their special Veteran over a meal. Over at West Seneca West, they will be honoring Veterans with a special ceremony and reception starting at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 9.
South Buffalo Charter School's students, teachers and staff are also welcoming 40 local Veterans to their third annual Veterans Day Parade.
The idea was brought over by their assistant principal at their school, Fred Hahn. Hahn and his committee of teachers decided they wanted to honor the local Veterans in a special way during the time of classes.
All of their hallways will be decorated, students will be wearing red and blue colors and waving American flags so that these local veterans can be honored and celebrated.
"You can see the look in their eyes. Every hallway that they go down. When they go through the auditorium, cafeteria, the gymnasiums, there's another group of kids who are standing up, cheering, saluting, and applauding. Some of the veterans are coming through with tears through their eyes. They feel grateful. They feel appreciated, as a school it is our duty to show those veterans in our community how much we appreciate what they have done with us," Hahn said.
After the parade, all the Veterans will be treated with lunch at the school.