|
St. John’s Church of Christ annual
Veteran event honors those who served our country
[November 11, 2025]
St. John’s Church of Christ
hosted its annual Veteran Celebration Dinner at the American Legion
in Lincoln on Sunday, November 9th. The doors opened at 4 p.m. with
a large turnout of veterans and their guests in attendance.
Guests were greeted in the hallway
by Marilyn Armbrust and Carolyn Pech, who checked their name off the
RSVP list. Inside the doorway at the Legion Ballroom, Darlene and
Don Begolka were handing out raffle tickets that would be used to
distribute door prizes later in the evening. Every person entering
received a white ticket, and veterans received an additional red
ticket.
The evening began at 4:30 p.m. when
Master of Ceremonies Lincoln Mayor and veteran Tracy Welch announced
that before dinner there would be a photo session starting with all
the veterans coming together for a group photo.
There were approximately 60
veterans in attendance, who came together for that first photo.
After the group photo, veterans were then asked to gather for a
posed photo based on the military branch in which they served.
United States Army –
34 members present
United States Navy –
13 members present
United States Marine
Corps – eight members present
United States Air
Force – eight members present
zhen all the members returned to
their tables, Welch spoke offering a brief history of the annual
event. He noted that the first veteran celebration was hosted in
2002 by the St. John’s Church of Christ youth group and was a
reception and dance. By 2013, most of the members of that group had
gone off to college or other endeavors, and the new generation of
youth decided to focus on other endeavors. Recognizing the value of
saluting our veterans, an adult group came together and formed a new
planning committee to carry on the tradition. At that time, the
event transformed to a sit-down dinner with entertainment,
occasional guest speakers and gifts given to each of the veterans.
Welch then introduced Silas Tockey,
the Church Council President. He talked about the longevity of the
church which has been serving the community for 165 years.
He thanked the committee and volunteers for their commitment to the
veterans of Logan County.
Following Tockey, the American
Legion Post 263 color guard performed the presentation of colors.
Guard member Gene Hickey started the group off in the recitation of
the Pledge of Allegiance, then Tockey led the group in the singing
of the Star Spangled Banner.
St. John Pastor Rev. Dr. Kenneth
Kline then delivered the invocation. The dinner consisting of ham,
potatoes, roasted carrots, dinner roll and tossed salad, prepared by
Nick Bay of Lincoln Land Catering was served by the members of Boy
Scout Troop 1102.
Throughout the evening, the scouts
returned to tables, clearing empty plates and making sure that
beverage glasses were kept full. As dinner concluded, they delivered
dessert which included cupcakes in a variety of flavors made by
Laura Slayton. Accompanying that was a gift bag with candies, a
“thank you” necklace, a red, white, and blue rubber duckie, and a
dipped pretzel stick.
[to top of second column] |
The various branches of service
were recognized by the playing of their march song. As the music
played the various veterans in the room stood to be recognized
by their branch starting with the Army then the Marines, Navy,
Air Force, Coast Guard, and the National Guard.
Before mail call, Jan Jefferies, the St. John’s Veteran
Ministries chairperson came to the microphone to recognize the
oldest veteran in the room. That person was Wayne LaForge who
checked in at 94 years of age.
LDN, quite by accident, was seated
at the same table as LaForge. He served in the army and spoke about
his deployment overseas. He didn’t say a lot about the time he spent
boots on the group in a foreign country but did recount that his
deployment was his first ever trip on a ship and his return home was
his last. He said that he was one of the unfortunate soldiers who
was sick every day at sea. He said he lost 13 pounds going over and
17 pounds coming home and determined that he would never again step
foot on a ship.
Following that special recognition, mail call was conducted, with
Welch reading off the first half of the names and Tockey taking on
the second half.
The mail call bags included small
gifts, and a large collection of colored photos, expressions of
appreciation done by District 27 elementary students from Adams.
Central, Northwest and Washington-Monroe schools.
Throughout the evening there was a
wide variety of entertainment including Rev. Dr. Kline performing on
the piano a variety of what he categorized as Dixieland music.
Tockey performed, singing several
pieces.
The Lincoln Community Theatre performed a selection from its
upcoming Christmas Extravaganza under the direction of Tim Searby
with accompaniment by Julie Kasa.
(Watch a video)
The group was then joined by members of the Lincoln Area Music
Society for the singing of America the Beautiful.
(Watch a video)
Throughout the entertainment
portion of the evening, short breaks were taken for the distribution
of door prizes. The Begolka’s oversaw that activity with Darlene
calling the winning ticket numbers and the boy scouts and at least
one member of the Lincoln Community High School National Honor
Society delivering gifts to the winners.
Gift bags were jam-packed with a
variety of things including patriotic items, candy and small canned
hams. There were also gift cards handed out including two tickets to
the LCT Christmas Extravaganza and dinner tickets from some of the
local restaurants.
Other activities of the evening included a moment of silence in
honor and memory of local veterans who have passed away in the last
year. The silence concluded with Tockey singing “On Eagles Wings.”
There was also the annual recognition of someone who has gone above
and beyond to support local veterans.
Prior to the presentation, Welch offered a history of the
appreciation award, saying the first was given out in 2022 to Paul
Gleason, in 2023 the local Marine Corps League 1325 Medical
Equipment program and the American Legion Post 263 Color Guard were
recognized. In 2024, veterans Michelle Ramlow and Bill Dennis were
recognized.
Jeffries was then introduced and
came forward to announce the 2025 recipient. She said that this year
the choice was made by local veterans and that when asked about one
person who went above and beyond, one name came up again and again.
She said she would quote some of the comments made. “Always thinks
of others,” “”motivates us, inspires us, cares for us.”
She then announced the 2025
recipient as being local veteran Scott Turner. Turner came forward
to receiving the plaque presented by Jeffries.
Soon after this presentation Rev. Dr. Kline delivered the
benediction, bringing the evening to a close.
The group photos that had been taken by Lynn Paulus early in the
evening had been printed out and veterans were encouraged to stop by
a table at the back of the room where they could receive a photo of
the entire group and also a photo of their specific branch of the
military.
The program that was laid at each
place setting included a page recognizing the many sponsors of the
annual dinner as well as a list of the annual fundraisers the church
hosts within the community.
Another page recognized the many people who contributed through
gifts and services provided for the evening. That list included the
district 27 schools, American Legion Post 263, Lincoln Land
Catering, Rustic Love Rentals, Chicago Street Rentals, Laura
Slayton, David Helm, the Lincoln Community Theatre and the Lincoln
Area Music Society.
Anyone wishing to lend support to future veteran celebrations is
encouraged to contact the St. John United Church of Christ at
217-737-6957.
[Nila Smith]
|
