Hudson Valley Honor Flight program benefits from BBQ

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Danny Szigethi's patriotic Ram truck

HAMLET OF WALLKILL – The annual BBQ to benefit Hudson Valley Honor Flight, raised over $30,000 to benefit the Honor Flight Program that pays for veterans to fly to Washington, DC and tour the monuments honoring those who served in the armed forces.

The event, held in the hamlet of Wallkill, was organized by the Teamster Horsemen, Chapter 16 North, the New York chapter of a national organization.

Perfect weather and a car show also chipped in to make the day a great time for all of the approximately 300 people in attendance.

One of those in attendance, Danny Szigethi and his wife, Sissy, of Putnam Valley entered their 2012 Dodge Ram Truck as a show car. The vehicle, decked bumper to bumper and even under the hood in American flag colors and imagery, was an attention grabber. The driver’s side rear window featured a memorial to Captain Joshua Byers, a West Point graduate killed in action in Iraq in 2013.

“We knew him personally, Sissy said. “Each year we take his picture with us when we go out on a boat alongside West Point and take photos that we put in a book and send to his mother. It helps her always remember Joshua.”

Cory Kilvert’s customized vintage jeep

Cory Kilvert III, a Navy Vietnam veteran, also had a car in the show. His 1951 Willy’s Jeep pickup doubles as his work vehicle for his Pine Bush-based landscaping business, Cory’s Landscaping.

“I enlisted straight out of high school in 1973, and it was a very dangerous time to be in Southeast Asia when I was there beginning in 1974-75,” Kilvert said. “By that time, the South Vietnamese had enough of Americans and so everyone was shooting at you.”

Kilvert, served aboard the USS Enterprise which was the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, a stroke of good fortune in his mind. “It was much more sanitary and reliable than diesel powered vessels,” Kilvert recalled.

The event featured music by Dan Brother, a 50/50 raffle, food provided by Vaughan Construction & Trails End Sportsman’s Club and a bouncy house for kids.




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