ROCKLAND COUNTY – Thanksgiving came early for veterans in Rockland County as the towns of Haverstraw, Clarkstown, Stony Point, and Orangetown held ‘thank you’ dinners on November 20 for veterans and their families.
Ramapo Town Supervisor Michael Specht said they will be holding a veterans appreciation event at Christmas.
Haverstraw Town Supervisor Howard Phillips said they gave away at least 60 turkeys with rice, corn and desert to the veterans who attended. “Many people think this is just for veterans who are in need. It’s also a way that we can say thank you to all the veterans for their service,” he said. “What better way to say thank you to these people for their service to our country.”
Orangetown Supervisor Teresa Kenny said that this was the second year the town provided the veteran turkey dinners. This year they served approximately 70 veterans, while last year they did closer to 50. “We view this as a thank you to those who served our country. It is the least we can do to show our appreciation.”
Stony Point Supervisor Jim Monaghan said this was the second year his town participated in this. It was started in the town of Clarkstown with a group called Veterans’ Angels. They have sponsors, People to People of Rockland, Interstate Toyota and each town.”
This spread to the other four towns when at one of the supervisors’ meetings, the Clarkstown supervisor told them about this and that this was a great program and they had a meeting with the Veterans’ Angels. “Next thing you know it took off. All five towns participated and this year total we gave out over 1500 turkeys.”
This is for veterans, military and also the families of veterans. “We reached out to veterans in Stony Point. We publicized it and we gave out about 65 turkeys and fixings.”
