Middletown Elks Lodge’s annual Veterans Stand Down event returned on Oct. 5 with a free breakfast, sponsored haircutting, and various veteran service providers.
Teresa Mayer, the local lodge’s veterans committee chair, told The Epoch Times that her late father Bill Mayer, a Korean War veteran, had inspired her to organize the event.
“I am a proud American, and I want to support our veterans,” she said, adding that she was only able to pull it off with the help of like-minded organizations and individuals.
Michelle Vazquez, a hairstylist who lives in Goshen and owns Dazzlers Hair Design in Middletown, attended the event for the second year and cut hair for more than 20 veterans for free.
“My father is a veteran, and a lot of my family members are serving in the military,” she told The Epoch Times. “This is a small tribute that I can do to our veterans.”
Hudson Valley Credit Union paid for the hot breakfast; Middletown and Cornwall Girl Scout members volunteered to man stations; and members of the American Legion Post 1181 and the local Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) performed the color guard procession.
“Community services are a big part of our program,” Middletown High School NJROTC Chief Kyle Slingerland told The Epoch Times. “When community organizations have an event, they usually ask us if they can get some cadets to help out, and we always get involved.”
Among other veteran service providers, Orange County Veterans Service Agency Director Christian Farell distributed information about free food deliveries and transportation services for veterans; a local Vet2Vet program representative shared information about peer-support opportunities; and owners of a Pine Bush-based nonprofit shared about their healing programs for veterans and first responders.
“Through a horse, we can relearn how to communicate,” Dwayne Lallathin, co-owner of Heros, Cowboys, and Companions, told The Epoch Times. “Our equine program helps people develop relationship skills and get back into society to live a normal life again.”
Rep. Patrick Ryan (D-N.Y.), an Army veteran, told The Epoch Times at the event: “It is so important that we wrap our arms around our veterans. There is not only immediate, tangible help in housing, clothing, and food, but also the good feeling of knowing that your community cares about you.”
Justine Crowley-Duncan, a former Elks veterans chair at the state level, drove all the way from Latham in Albany County to display her New York State Fallen Military Memorial at the event. The memorial pays tribute to soldiers fallen in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars after the 9/11 terror attacks.
“I have met about 20 families [who have loved ones] on this memorial, and I just formed a connection with them,” Crowley-Duncan told The Epoch Times. “I also met a combat medic who tended to 10 of the soldiers on this memorial and pointed out each one of them and told me their stories. She told me that she had peace because they would not be forgotten.
“It is just so important that they be remembered.”
