PLATTSBURGH — A new season of North Country Honor Flight begins at 7 am., Saturday, May 17, with the first of four trips to Washington, D.C.
“It is a big day for us and we certainly are hoping for a great day weather wise, but it will be great no matter what,” North Country Honor Flight Executive Director Barrie Finnegan said.
“We are hoping for another great crowd.”
North Country Honor Flight, since 2013, has taken more than 900 area veterans on 59 flights to Washington to visit the war memorials of each conflict the nation has been involved in over the years.
Flights 60 and 61 will depart Saturday from Plattsburgh International Airport after the send-off ceremony at Veterans Park at the U.S. Oval at 7 a.m.
The ceremony will feature the standard songs by the Morrisonville Elementary School students and Larry Ebere.
Local musical sensation Taylor LaValley will perform the U.S. and Canadian national anthems.
Finnegan said LaValley learned the Canadian anthem in anticipation of a Canadian World War II soldier that was planning on participating in the trip, but had to cancel due to a last-minute illness.
“She learned the song and she has such a beautiful voice, and Canada is so important to our region so why not sing it anyway as an honor to them,” Finnegan said.
The ceremony will also be highlighted by the usual Thunder in the Burgh, which features more than 200 motorcycles roaring through North Country streets to form up as a powerful escort for the two buses that will ferry the veterans from the Oval to the airport.
“People will hear it once again and they are going to make some noise,” Finnegan said.
Each ceremony features short biographies of each veteran on the trip. For several years, former Director of Operations Janet Duprey would read the bios, but she has since stepped down from her position.
Finnegan said Executive Officer Jerika Manning and new Director of Operations Gina Bond will take over the reading of the bios.
Mountain Lake PBS Television’s Thom Hallock will once again serve as the master of ceremonies.
“Some people have said that the program is always the same, but for the veterans going on the flights, they have never been here before and they have never seen it,” Finnegan said.
“It’s all for these vets.”
Many veterans who have taken a flight have come back to attend subsequent flights, Finnegan said.
“A lot of them come back because they know how important it is and they don’t want to miss any of them, and they bring their families,” he said.
Finnegan said support from local residents has been super over the years in terms of fundraising and attendance at send-offs.
“We are lucky to live where we live because people are so supportive,” he said.
In addition to the usual send-off events, the Beekmantown Central School seventh-graders are hosting a 5k fun run and other events to support the program.
More information is available on the North Country Honor Flight Run Facebook page.
The day will end when the flights return to the airport around 8:15 p.m. and crowds are encouraged to greet the veterans back at the Oval park.
Future flights are scheduled for June 28, Sept. 6 and Oct. 4.
“It’s that time of year again and we are looking forward to this and we are going to have another great season, and our veterans deserve this,” Finnegan said.