With Veteran’s Day coming up on Thursday, some Live Oak High
students are planning to spend at least part of the holiday
gathering good wishes for American troops now serving in Iraq.
With Veteran’s Day coming up on Thursday, some Live Oak High students are planning to spend at least part of the holiday gathering good wishes for American troops now serving in Iraq.
The Patriot Club, born at Live Oak two years ago in the wake of 9/11 and troop deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, is scrambling to put together its latest project, a “Hometown, USA” 2005 calendar to send to Morgan Hill soldiers overseas.
“We were looking for something that was different, something that they could use,” Patriot Club President Samantha Calios said Monday. “We want our soldiers to know the way this town is supporting the troops.”
Samantha, a senior at Live Oak, said the club is working to collect wishes and thoughts from Morgan Hill residents.
These will be sent to the troops along with letters of support gathered from students and the community with quotes appearing in the calendar.
The club will set up a table at Thursday’s Veteran’s Day ceremonies that begin at 9am in the Downtown at Monterey Road and First Street.
There are certain guidelines to follow Calios said: the messages cannot include political propaganda or questions intended to obtain privileged information; if the sender is under 18, no personal identifying information such as last name, street address, email address should be included; and no inappropriate visual material should be included.
“It would be really nice if we can get adults in the community to support what these kids are doing,” Haaser said Monday. “We would really like to be able to send out about 1,000 calendars, some of them to former Live Oak students, some to specific soldiers from Morgan Hill, maybe send them a dozen or so so they can give them to their fellow soldiers, too.”
A big issue the club is facing is printing costs. Samantha said she was planning to go to local businesses to seek support, as the club only has $700.
“We really haven’t found a way to print them yet,” she said. “We have been having fundraisers, selling food when we can, but that’s probably not enough to produce enough.”
The Patriot Club, when it was formed, had only a handful of students, Samantha said. Now it has at upwards of 30.
“It’s really nice to see them doing things for the troops,” Haaser said. “We’ve been out there, been in the Fourth of July parade. They’re really putting their hearts into this. It would be nice if they had some community support.”
Last year, club members organized “Patriot-palooza,” with a variety of local bands and proceeds going to purchase games for soldiers.
“It was great,” Samantha said. “The one thing we were surprised how much the postage was. We really need to bring in some more money, not only for the printing but also the postage. And we’re running out of time.”
Sentiments of support can also be sent to Paula Haaser, the club adviser, in care of Live Oak High, 1505 E. Main Ave., Morgan Hill 95037. Messages need to be sent by Nov. 15.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or phoning (408) 779-4106 Ext. 202
