Veterans Day Ceremony

Veterans Day Ceremony

A Veterans Day Ceremony to celebrate and honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice will be held on November 9, 2024, at 11 a.m. at the Frisco Veterans Memorial in Frisco Commons Park, 8000 McKinney Road, Frisco, TX 75033. The American Legion Post 178 and Auxiliary Unit 178 are coordinating the ceremony.

The ceremony will include special guests from the City of Frisco and speakers Raymond Kemp with 33 years’ service, Fleet Master Chief US Naval Force Europe, US Naval Forces Africa and Darrell Utt a Retired Green Beret US Army Special Forces

The public and all veterans are invited to attend. Seating will be available.

American Legion Post 178 Shares Holiday Cheer with Veterans

American Legion Post 178 Shares Holiday Cheer with Veterans

 (L-R) Post 178 members John Allen, Pete Abene, Tim Schmidt, Ron Bircher, and Marty Martel display banners made by elementary students for the veteran residents.

Peter J Courcy Post 178 has collected and delivered gifts each year since 2014 to the Clyde M. Cosper State Veterans Home in Bonham, Texas. The 152 men and women residents received and enjoyed items that the state does simply not provide.

Little Elm Oak Point and Brent Elementary Schools also collected donations. Jill Harrer, a dyslexia therapist at Brent and daughter of John and Vicki Allen, again led efforts to encourage student donations which included banners and personal letters to veterans written by the students. The Little Elm North Texas Collegiate Academy fifth grade class also donated boxes that included colored t-shirts and blue jeans.

Post 178 and its members donated funds to purchase items which included a Pop-A-Shot Arcade with seven basketball balls and two goals, as well as clothing and personal hygiene items. Donations from Post 178 and Auxiliary Unit 178 amounted to $3,000.

Post 178 members John Allen, Pete Abene, Tim Schmidt, Ron Bircher, and Marty Martel traveled sixty miles on December 4 to deliver seventy boxes of requested items along with more than four hundred home-baked cookies by the Dillingham family. After unloading the boxes of donations, the five Post 178 veterans cooked and served hot dogs and hamburgers for the residents and staff.

American Legion Post 178 & VFW Post 8273 Color Guards Lead 2023 Frisco Community Parade

American Legion Post 178 & VFW Post 8273 Color Guards Lead 2023 Frisco Community Parade

 

The Frisco Community Parade was held on November 11 to mark Veterans Day and to celebrate community pride. The theme was Stars, Stripes, and Service. The Grand Marshall was Peter Burns, U.S. Army, Retired, and 2019 Distinguished Veteran of the Year.

The parade, which was originally a homecoming parade when Frisco was home to one high school, featured floats, school marching bands, high school football teams, cheerleaders, scouts, civic organizations, youth sports teams, Frisco-based professional sports teams, and local businesses.

Post 178’s entry consisted of the only tractor of the ninety-nine entries in this year’s parade. Both members and Pack 178 scouts rode on the trailer.  Troop 178 scouts carried the post banner.

The Frisco Community Parade is a collaboration between the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, Frisco Chamber of Commerce, and the Frisco Veterans Advisory Committee.

Special thanks go to Six & Mango Equipment for providing the Kubota tractor to pull the post’s trailer.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Day

Martin Luther King, Jr., Day

Martin Luther King Day is a federal holiday held on the third Monday of January. It celebrates the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr., an influential American civil rights leader. He is most well-known for his campaigns to end racial segregation on public transport and for racial equality in the United States. A Baptist minister who advocated the use of nonviolent means to end racial segregation.  He first came to national prominence during a bus boycott by African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957 and led the 1963 March on Washington.  The most influential of African American civil rights leaders during the 1960s, he was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination in public accommodations, facilities, and employment, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968. The day is usually celebrated with marches and parades and with speeches by civil rights and political leaders.