GREENFIELD — It doesn’t have to be Veterans Day to be a day to honor veterans.
The Building Bridges Veterans Initiative hosts free biweekly luncheons at the Greenfield Elks Lodge #1296 for former service members, and this Thursday’s event featured the bonuses of the Greenfield Police Department honor guard and a video produced by mother and son Annemarie and Will Brady, who cook and coordinate the meals.
“[It was] very impactful,” U.S. Marine Corps veteran and program volunteer Maria Burge said. “It’s very nice to hear that folks appreciate it, appreciate us.”
Burge said one member of the Police Department’s honor guard visited and led the roughly 65 veterans in the Pledge of Allegiance before the video played. The 11-minute video featured people from around the Pioneer Valley expressing their gratitude for veterans and their service. Random people approached by the Bradys explained their definition of a veteran and how much their sacrifice means to them. Some of the people were interviewed at places like Thunder Mountain Bike Park in Charlemont and the Athol Basket in Athol.
“Another thing about the bike park is, the people we asked, they’re from all over the place,” said Will Brady, who edited the content his mother directed. “I honestly think it came out great.”
Annemarie, who assumes overarching responsibility for organizing and managing the meals as this Building Bridges location’s official “Champion,” said
“I had the idea because I love our veterans and I wanted to do something special,” she said. “It was just kind of a fleeting thing, just to do ‘What a veteran means to me,’ then it turned into doing the slideshow.”
Thursday’s meal consisted of pot roast, butternut squash, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and cake.
For more information about Building Bridges, visit buildingbridgesveterans.org.
