The festivities

kicked off with a parade from the school through the town of Brooks. The

county's veterans lead the parade in style, waving at passersby from jeeps,

convertible cars and an open-air bus provided by the Fayette Shrine Club.

All students

from the school walked in the parade carrying banners and pulling red

wagon floats. The Brooks Town Council donated $10 per classroom to help

fund the decorating of the wagons and signs. Also, the Brooks Community

Club donated a flatbed trailer, which the school's chorus decorated in

honor of the veterans. Chorus teacher Rebecca Nelson rode on the float

while the Brooks Singers followed behind proudly waving American flags.

Along the parade route, students and other participants stopped at a Post

Office mailbox to send thank-you letters to veterans for their service

to the country.

Prior to the

parade, student escorts dressed in military fatigues greeted veterans

in the lobby of the school and escorted them to their seats of honor for

a patriotic assembly. The ROTC Color Guard and chorus from Decatur High

School presented the colors and sang the Star Spangled Banner and America

the Beautiful. A short play was also performed by students Hannah Skibiel,

Josh Watson, Matthew Bates, Taylor Dickson, Nathan Nestor and James Byrd

that explained what a veteran is and why Veteran's Day is an important

holiday.

The day's festivities

were wrapped up at Brooks Park in the evening with a community picnic

and a candlelight ceremony honoring the veterans. Entertainment was provided

This year marked

the second annual Veteran's Day Celebration at Brooks; however, it was

the first time the school had organized a parade.

"I had

many veterans approach me today to say 'thank you' for inviting us to

be a part of the celebration. They said that they had never been asked

to participate in something like this and appreciated the fact that the

school and community came together to honor them," says Dana Sams

who helped to organize this year's events.

The idea to

have a celebration to honor local veterans was the brainchild of former

Brooks principal Harry Sweatman. Last year Sweatman, who served one tour

of duty in Vietnam, approached Jibbie Baker, a teacher at the school,

and told her that he would like to do something for the veterans. The

school organized a community picnic and invited local veterans to participate.

The picnic was such a huge success that the school decided to expand the

celebration and add the parade this year.

"We are

just really proud of the celebration we hosted this year. The students

worked hard to get everything ready. It was a very uplifting day for all

of us," says Baker.

Baker's students

were responsible for writing individual letters to local veterans to personally

invite them to attend the parade and community picnic. Approximately 125

letters were mailed.