Posted on 09/23/2014 1:38:48 PM PDT by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA — The annual Marine Corps League Toys for Tots Drive has begun.
The event kicked off Saturday with the awarding of raffle prizes drawn on Sept. 13 during the Sierra Vista Oktoberfest.
The prizes were officially presented at the Toys for Tots headquarters in Sierra Vista, while at the same time a recent participant in the Honor Flight program — Ralph Graves — made an appearance.
It was an early Christmas for sister and brother Liberty West, 9, and Lincoln West, 5, winning a special 360 degree racer stunt bike and for 9-year-old Annamae Buhr, the recipient of a mountain bike and helmet.
For a trio of Denfield sisters, Destiny, 13, Cheyenne, 15, and Bethany, 17, their raffle prize was a Super Bowl 47 game ball. That game saw the 49’ers and the Ravens on the field in 2013, with the Baltimore team defeating Los Angeles 34-31.
For the local Marine Corps League Detachment it was the beginning of an annual drive ensuring needy children throughout Cochise County will have gifts on that special day.
As has been the case in the last of couple of years, retired Gunnery Sgt. Jim Adams will be the county Toys for Tots coordinator.
This year up to 300 boxes are expected to be placed at various locations in the county, in which unwrapped donations can be placed. Once the sites are confirmed they will be announced, Adams said.
Toys will be available for children up to the age of 14. All toys collected in a particular city or area “are distributed in that area only,” he said, noting last year more than 70,000 toys and books were distributed by Detachment 1283 in the county.
As for Graves, who served as an Army helicopter pilot, his trip last month to Washington, D.C., was sponsored by the detachment.
Other Cochise County residents on the flight were: WAC Goldie Butler of Sierra Vista, Marine Dennis Hash of Benson, Sailor Joe Laggan of Hereford, Soldier Mike Lazovitch of Bisbee, Army Air Corps member Bob McCormack of Hereford, Soldier Al Peralta of Hereford and WAC Joyce Zink of Sierra Vista.
Although the Honor Flight program was initially established for World War II veterans, exceptions are now being made for veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars who are critically ill, and Graves filled that requirement.
As for his trip, Graves quietly said, “It was an honor.”
During the Honor Flights, veterans also have the opportunity to visit the memorials to those lost in Korea and Vietnam.
Graves noted, “I saw three names of those I knew killed in Vietnam.”
LEARN MORE
For more information about this year’s local Marine Corps League Toys for Tots drive visit www.thundermountainMCL@mail.com.
For more information about supporting the local Honor Flight, call Bob Simon at (541) 840-7035.
The last Honor Flight trip or this year will b held in mid-October. To sponsor a veteran costs $1,000, which includes roundtrip airfare from Tucson, hotel accommodations, meals and transportation in Washington D.C., for the three-day event.
I went to the WWII memorial not too long after it opened.Seeing the elderly servicemen there,many in wheelchairs or using walkers,and many sporting hats of various sorts designating their branch of service,was one of the most moving things I’ve ever seen.Brokaw (and others) are right...The Greatest Generation.
My step-dad, who I’m very close to, went on Honor Flight. Not a dry eye in the place.
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