Scouts and community honor veterans with a dinner

For the past five years scouts, their families and the Oyster Bay community have volunteered to thank veterans for their service by providing them with a hot meal at the annual Veterans Appreciation Dinner held in St. Dominic Catholic Church’s parish hall. This year 40 veterans came on Nov. 2. Included among them was World War II Air Force veteran Joseph Marshall, of Syosset, who will turn 100 on Dec. 10.

Looking spry, Marshall, who said he goes to the gym almost every day, didn’t want to reminisce much about his experiences during the war. Referring to that time as “old stuff now,” he did say that he enjoyed speaking to the scouts about the military.

The scouts, who served a hot meal to the veterans and their guests included members of Oyster Bay’s Boy Scout Troop 299, Troop 253 and Cub Scouts from Pack 253. Many Girl Scouts were there too, from Oyster Bay, Bayville and Locust Valley. The experience was more than an opportunity to partake in community service for the children. It was a chance to hear about history firsthand from the veterans.

Kaylie Mayer, 12, from Oyster Bay Girl Scout Troop 211 said it was her first time volunteering at the dinner. “Some people don’t know what people have done for our country,” she said. “Here, we are talking to veterans getting actual stories.”

Emily Murphy, also 12, a member of Girl Scout Troop 225 said she was volunteering at the dinner for the third time. It’s always a great experience, she said, but this time the veterans were more talkative, which she enjoyed.

“The dinner is a nice way for the veterans to be appreciated and acknowledged,” Emily said, “for what they’ve been through.”

The veterans, like American Legion member Jack McKie from Bayville’s Robert H. Spittel Post 1285, said the scouts had plenty of questions. A Vietnam veteran, he served in the Army from 1965-1966.

“I told one of the girls that I was drafted and she said I must have been happy,” McKie said. “I was going to explain what that meant but I decided to let it go.”

There’s a great deal of preparation involved in ensuring that the dinner is a success. A Veterans Appreciation Committee, made up of people in the community, planed the dinner for months. It depends upon donations from organizations like the Knights of Columbus, Oyster Bay Council 1206 and the sponsors from the community, some of which provided the food.

Legislator Josh Lafazan, who stopped by toward the end of the evening, referred to the veterans as people who “wrote a blank check to our country that included their life.” Lafazan encouraged the young people to learn from the veterans. “Every year we’ve been alive we have been in a war but most kids under 17 don’t know that because we are safe here,” he said. “Every day when you see a veteran thank them.”

Then he asked Marshall to speak to the children and offer a few words of advice. “Keep going,” Marshall said. “Don’t quit.”

He didn’t know it but the reason he had been asked to speak was a ploy to surprise him with a cake. As Sean Byrne brought out a cake congratulating Marshall on 100 years, everyone sang to Marshall, who was visibly moved.

“It was nice to see the younger generation learn what veterans are and to respect them,” he later said. “When I first got here the kids all came up to me and said, 'Thank you for your service.' That was great.”