Two years ago, after a lifetime living in and serving the community of Oak Park, former Village Clerk Virginia Cassin moved to Minnesota (at age 94) to be closer to family. Sadly, she passed away on October 16. For years she organized and emceed the OPRF Village Veterans and Memorial Day ceremonies. When she left, Historical Society member Brian Flora became by default--as the last Vet standing--the main organizer of these ceremonies. Brian asked that the following invitation be shared with supporters of the Historical Society:
In a normal year the Veterans Day team would be holding the Veterans Day ceremony in the ballroom of the Oak Park Arms, which serves as our gracious host for the November event when dodgy weather is likely. But this is not a normal year, and COVID restrictions prevent us from gathering in person. So, as we did last May for Memorial Day, we will recognize our veterans remotely and use Zoom technology to honor them.
We will “meet” on Wednesday, November 11, at 11:00 a.m. Please join me, John and Kathryn Atwood, the History Singers, Abraham Lincoln, Army Chaplain Nick Schmidlin, Taps bugler Greg Schorsch, and others as we pay tribute to our service members.
My Veteran Day’s remarks will reflect on comments made by my Dad late in his life on the sacrifices made by our veterans during the horrific three-year Korean War, often referred to as America’s “Forgotten War.” It ended seventy years ago, and Dad was in it from beginning to end with the Second Infantry Division. Author and historian Kathryn Atwood will speak about the role of women in World War One and how this helped advance the cause of women’s suffrage. Abraham Lincoln, for his part, will give a short 1864 Civil War speech honoring the vital contribution of women to the U.S. Sanitary Commission, the agency charged with taking care of the Union’s sick and wounded soldiers and their families.
We hope to see you then. Here are some instructions on how to connect.
Once you’ve started your Zoom session look for the button at the top of the screen that asks if you want to join a meeting. Click yes. You will be asked for the meeting ID (839 1069 9966) and Passcode: (“Service”). If you use your cell phone, dial 1-(312) 626-6799. The meeting ID stays the same (839 1069 9966) BUT the Passcode is a number: “3610780”. You can also follow the event on YouTube: https://youtu.be/yQqY3y2-VZ0 Or, just Google “HistorySingers YouTube” and find it there. Lastly it will be shown on Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/kathy.atwood.92/
Apologies in advance for any Zoom technology glitches that we cause.
-Brian Flora