DANIELSON – On Thursday, November 11, Quinebaug Valley Community College was graced with a beautiful November afternoon to host the annual Veterans Day Celebration outdoors in the Veterans Garden, located on the Danielson campus.
Over 400 bricks engraved with the names of local veterans lie in QVCC’s Veterans Garden, which was built in 2010 with the goal of providing a place where local veterans could be honored and remembered for their services to our country.
QVCC’s Veterans Day Celebration began with the National Anthem, performed by QVCC alumna Linda Colangelo, and the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Fred Ruhlemann of the Danielson Veteran Coffeehouse. QVCC CEO Dr. Karen Hynick provided a warm welcome, followed by comments from United States Congressman Joe Courtney and Connecticut State Representative Pat Boyd.
The celebration also included an original poem, written and recited by QVCC’s Veterans Services Coordinator Joel Niemann ’15, “A Soldier’s Prayer,” read by Sergeant 1st Class Melissa Collins of the Connecticut National Guard, and musical selections, including a Military Service Song medley and God Bless America, also performed by Linda Colangelo.
Following the outdoor celebration, guests were welcomed into the SPIROL Art Gallery for a viewing of the Veterans Connection photo exhibit. The Veterans Connection photo exhibit began in the fall of 2014 to recognize and celebrate the QVCC faculty, staff, and community members who have served or have loved ones who have served in the United States military.
Also featured in the exhibit is a missing man table, also known as a fallen comrade table. This table is reserved to honor our brave and selfless American military members who have perished on the battlefield, those who have not been returned to us after being taken prisoner on foreign soil, and for those who went missing and have not found their way back home.
The Veterans Connection photo exhibit, which is open to the public, will be running until Friday, November 26. Community members are invited and encouraged to visit.
“We’re so grateful that we could host our Veterans Day celebration in person this year,” said QVCC’s Veterans Services Coordinator Joel Niemann. “We had outstanding weather, excellent speakers, and an incredible photo exhibit. We couldn’t have asked for more to honor our veterans, locally and beyond.”
