The city of Sultan and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 2554 invites all Sky Valley residents to attend the fourth annual Veterans Day Ceremony.
The ceremony takes place 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the All Veterans Memorial Wall near the corner of First and Main streets. Speakers at the event include Ann Seabott from U.S. Sen. Patty Murray's office, Sultan's mayor, pastor Aaron Day, VFW Commander Chuck Donahue, former Sultan mayor C.H. Rowe, pastor Sean Wilkerson and Sgt. First Class Dave Sivewright.
Sivewright and his wife, Christina, are co-chairs of the committee responsible for organizing the event, taking the helm as of last year. In addition to helping coordinate the ceremony, Christina Sivewright spearheaded her award-winning project to line Sultan's Main Street with American flags.
She presented her vision to the city of Sultan and the Sultan City Council last August, needing approval to move forward with the project since it involved drilling holes into the sidewalks. Once she got the green light from city officials, she began fundraising, preferring the project remain community-based rather than funded through corporate sponsorships.
Phase one of her project lined Sultan's Main Street with American flags from First to Third streets just in time for last year's ceremony. This year, American flags will stretch all the way down Main Street from First to U.S. 2.
This year's performances include Monroe Police Sgt. Brian Johnston on the bagpipes, and Taps performed by Sultan High School students Jewelia Meischke and Sarah Swift. Joe Slick will sing "God Bless the USA,GÇ¥ and students from Sultan Elementary School will perform the National Anthem.
A local student will read an essay based on the theme of "What Freedom Means to Me,GÇ¥ and the colors will be presented by Sultan Cub Scout pack 52 led by Julianna Johnson.
A reception will follow the ceremony at Sultan City Hall in council chambers, and includes refreshments and historical military artifacts displayed by the Sky Valley Historical Society and local residents.
The Sivewrights are compiling a digital slideshow honoring local Sky Valley veterans that will be presented during the reception, and are accepting photos for the slideshow up until Saturday, Nov. 7. To submit a photo for the slideshow, email the photo along with a brief military history to sivewrightd@outlook.com.
Photo by Chris Hendrickson Local VFW Junior Vice Commander Joe Stone Jr. gave a presentation on the origin of Taps as Sgt. First Class Dave Sivewright, also known as the Hwy 2 Freedom Runner, stood by during last yearGÇÖs event.
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