QUILTS TAKE FLIGHT

It will be a day to long remember for 85 United States military veterans and their guardians as they embark on a one-day Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. on April 23.

The Red Oak Grove Lutheran Church Quilters Group is doing something extra special for the veterans chosen to make the flight more meaningful. Each veteran will receive a lap quilt.

Marge Trihus donated the fabric. Quilters made 50 lap quilts, and two other service groups made the remaining 35 for the North Star Honor Flight.

Buses leave early

Mary Fargen and JoAnne Fuller are coordinators for the big day. Four buses will leave Austin early the morning of Wednesday, April 23.

Judy Wambeam is chairman of the quilting project. Also helping with the quilt making are: Nancy Wesley, Linda Christianson, Joyce Peterson, Suzann Hamersma, Marilyn Helleck, Holly Ille, Roxann Linthicum, Diana Magnuson, and Al Wesley. Linthicum and Wesley are veterans.

Diana Magnuson created 11 lap quilts while working at home.

Honor Flight Network recognizes veterans for their sacrifices and achievements by flying vets to Washington, where they tour memorials for the wars in which they fought. North Star Honor Flights serves Blue Earth, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Mower, Olmsted, Steele and Waseca counties in southern Minnesota, and Cerro Gordo, Howard, Mitchell, Winnebago, and Worth counties in northern Iowa.

Guardians are assigned to the veterans to provide assistance to make the trip a memorable one. Volunteers are also needed.

Any man or woman who served on active duty at any time during the following dates is considered a veteran of the war/conflicts and is eligible to participate in Honor Flights:

Korean War, June 25, 1950, to Jan. 31, 1955

Vietnam War, Feb. 28, 1961, to May 7, 1975

Lebanon/Granada, Aug. 24, 1982, to July 31, 1984

Panama, Dec. 20, 1989, to Jan. 31, 1990

Priority is given to veterans of earlier war/conflicts and to any terminally ill veterans.

To learn more, visit northstarhonorflight.org.