Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Flint Hills Veterans Coalition on the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 252
We celebrate Manhattan’s Veterans Day with the biggest parade in Kansas, a salute to the National Guard and Reserve, and a free, accessible ceremony that welcomes everyone in person and online. From breakfast at the American Legion to mall exhibits and mounted color guard, the day blends pageantry with purpose.
• Parade details and route from mall to City Hall
• Focus on honoring National Guard and Reserve
• Free veteran breakfast hosted by Knights of Columbus
• Ceremony at 11 a.m. with senior Guard leader speaking
• Broadcast on KMAN, Facebook Live, and Cox Channel 3
• Mall exhibits with artifacts and local veterans’ stories
• Volunteers from E-9 Association and K-State historians
• Flags and dog tags for attendees and care facilities
• How to register, join meetings, and get involved
Our next meeting is going to be October 28th at 10 a.m., the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
You can RSVP at chamber at manhattan.org
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode, we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour, as heard on News Radio KMAN. It's kind of funny. We get busy talking in here. We kind of lose track of what goes on here in the studio. And thankfully, Gwen back there has given me a thumbs up and says, Okay, Dave, shut up and get Britt the show. It's the GMCF Community Hour. We do this every Monday morning at 10 on News Radio KMAN. I'm Dave Lewis. Got a couple of friends here in the studio, which is always fun. It's even more fun when we're off mic. This is very important. It's very important. Very important. Yeah. Yeah. Melody Sexton.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, sir. Hello, dear suffering, Melody Sexton.
SPEAKER_02:Well, how long have you been married now? 43 years. 43 years. Oh my gosh. Bless your heart.
SPEAKER_00:I know.
SPEAKER_02:And St.
SPEAKER_00:Melody.
SPEAKER_02:Sexton. Chuck Sexton is past president in Melody. You're in charge of publicity of the Flint Hills Veterans Coalition. We're going to talk about Veterans Day in Manhattan, which is an amazing celebration.
SPEAKER_01:Hey, Dave, if I can say first off, uh thanks to GMCF for what they do for the parade. And Vern and all the folks down there, the way they support this hometown America extravaganza. Can I use the words extravaganza? Can I go that far? I think that that's a good minimal word to use. That's what it is. I can't spell it, but I'm going to use it. I can spell it, but go ahead. But the the things they do to make this uh event come off for the entire community is it if people only knew behind the scenes, and I I'm giving them short shrift here in this couple of seconds, but Vern, Christine, and all the folks down there, David, you yourself, the the level of support that you give, if we did not have it, this parade would not come off. So my hat's off to you, as should be all the.
SPEAKER_02:And let's give a shout-out to the city of Manhattan, too, for you know, all the work that they do and the facilities for the commanding ceremony. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's it's an all hands-on-deck day.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And all the kids that come. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's so much fun. You know, it takes that level of support and commitment to have the biggest parade, Veterans Day parade in the state of Kansas.
SPEAKER_00:We do count ourselves as the biggest parade in the state of Kansas.
SPEAKER_02:And there's good reason to.
SPEAKER_00:And there is, because Leavenworth, uh, we don't require anyone to be in the parade.
SPEAKER_01:They have to order people to go to the parade. You know, they have the military, so they can order them to be the house. They gotta order them. So that's the way it goes, you know.
SPEAKER_00:I'm just saying.
SPEAKER_01:Well, you know, and we we hold this truth as self-evident that we are the greatest parade in the region.
SPEAKER_00:In the region. In the region.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Melody, I'm going to turn this over to you so that we can because we have time constraints.
SPEAKER_00:I know.
SPEAKER_02:Uh the parade. Let's go over the details.
SPEAKER_00:Correct. Okay. So you want to be in Manhattan downtown on November 11th, especially at 9 30 a.m., because that's when we have our Veterans Day parade. We go from the mall to City Hall. Um, so we'll be starting out um in front of uh the entrance to the mall on Third Street and Points and heading all the way down just past City Hall with all of our parades, floats. As a matter of fact, I do want to say this is the probably possibly the last time, at least in a while, that you'll be able to see the um Fort Riley uh commanding general's mounted color code.
SPEAKER_02:I was going to ask about that. Yep.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, they are. Yes, they are. So we'll be happy to see that. That's right. That's right. You're gonna want to see that. Um this year, we're organ we are honoring our uh nation's National Guard and Reserves. You know, they're so important, not only domestically, um, but also when in times of war. We rely on them heavily to make up a great portion of the fighting forces that we have. Um, so we want to acknowledge that this year and say a big thank you to our Guard and Reserve veterans and active.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's been about a hundred, you know, not many people know this as a historian, not many people know this, but about 110 years, 110 years since we've had what we know as the modern guard. And it came through an act of Congress where it changed it from militias raising amongst the states to actually having something solid that was associated directly with the United States Army. And that important element has been with us in all our military actions since the First World War. So it's a bit it's a big deal for these guys.
SPEAKER_00:And you can still register and join us at the parade, um, Flint Hillsveterans.org. Um, very easy to register. I also want to mention before the parade, you're gonna want to go to the American Legion. I think it's um what is it, 113? 114. 114 McCall Road.
SPEAKER_02:I remember some of these things from my old radio days.
SPEAKER_00:Ah, there you go. We are so lucky every year we've had the Monsignor Lucky fourth degree Knights of Columbus making breakfast for us. And that day, veterans will eat free. And I believe that's from I believe that's from 7:30 a.m. until nine. Um, so it's a small fee if you're accompanying your veteran or if you just want to come and have some great food. And I'm telling you, it's great food, but you don't want to miss that at the American Legion. We want to thank them for hosting that. It's the best way to start the day.
SPEAKER_01:It is. And they are good-looking fellas too. They're very good looking. You know, I was gonna say friendly.
SPEAKER_00:Moving on. And that too. Moving on. Um, I want to talk about, I'm gonna skip down to the Veterans Day ceremony of honor and peace auditorium. Um, I think you're familiar with that. And that's going to be at 11 a.m. So it's the 11th month, the 11th day, the 11th hour. Um, significance of that briefly, Chuck.
SPEAKER_01:End of the first world war.
SPEAKER_00:There you go. That's that was brief. That was brief. He could do Is he always that responsive to you? Are you? But if you better believe it, it's amazing. So this is this is uh this is immediately following the parade. It is free to the public. We really encourage you to come. There's um some great singing and some great uh speakers, and we have participation of the again, the American Legion and is it the VFW as well?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and and the young people in the community as well.
SPEAKER_00:Correct. Um, so this is a free event. It's gonna be in City Hall, which is five 11th in points. There you go. There it's at 11th in points.
SPEAKER_01:Like a steel trap.
SPEAKER_00:I know, he's so smart. Free to the public, our guest speaker this year. We're um very lucky to have Lieutenant Colonel Promotable David Graff Jr., who is a um he spent most of his career in Kansas now with the National Guard, but he is currently the director of human resources for the Kansas National Guard. And I learned something this morning about that uh that's important.
SPEAKER_01:Well, yes, you did. Did you learn it too, Charlie? I learn every day, just waking up. Please share what we learned was uh he is for the state level of the guard. So that includes not only the Army National Guard, but the Air National Guard as well. So he is in what we'd call in the active army a joint headquarters, and he's the basically the personnel officer for the for the state of Kansas, which is kind of a cool thing.
SPEAKER_00:I did know that. Did not know that. And most recently, just before that, he was the I think it was the deputy commander of the 130th. That's me here in Manhattan. Yes. Manhattan's that is correct. Do you want me to go on to displays?
SPEAKER_02:I do want to make uh one addition to the ceremony thing. Yes. Um, broadcast on K-Man.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, thank you. Yes.
SPEAKER_02:And also we will be uh having it on Facebook. Facebook Live Live as well as um Cox Cable Channel 3.
SPEAKER_01:That's right. And we do that uh and and I really appreciate you doing that for our veterans that are not able to make it in person to either the parade or to the ceremony of honor.
SPEAKER_00:And an interesting thing about that, Dave, you've been doing that for us every year. We started doing that during COVID when we were, I think, the only parade in Manhattan, Kansas that year.
SPEAKER_01:Largest and only.
SPEAKER_00:Largest. We definitely the largest in the state. And um the feedback we got from the broadcasts that we did for people in general was from the seniors in in their own homes and senior living. And they said, this is wonderful. Please continue to do that. So that's why we do it every year, is for our veterans and our citizens that are, for whatever reason, they can't make it, but especially those that are at home and and want to celebrate our country.
SPEAKER_01:So if you're wondering why the Flint Hills Veterans Coalition every once in a while will ask for money or for donations, it's because of that. So we can continue to offer our those veterans, those families of veterans, that opportunity to be with us in spirit virtually. If they can't be with us, so important to include that.
SPEAKER_02:It's cool to hear, you know, like at the Sea of Living Homes, you know, they have watch parties. Yeah. And that's that's that's a cool thing to be able to provide for them. And and I think that that's meaningful for them to be included still. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:Because we're losing, you know, with our World War II guys, we're losing more and more every year.
SPEAKER_02:A lot of our Vietnam guys, too. That's right.
SPEAKER_01:Korea guys. Yeah. So nobody lasts forever. But Jim Sharp does. Yeah. Well, Jim Sharp, yeah. That's true.
SPEAKER_00:God bless him. I'm so happy to hear that, too. Um, let's see. Continuing on, our Veterans Day displays. Now, these have been headed up for years by Mark Mike uh members. Yep, Mike Cardello and uh Larry Morgan. And they have they have just been stalwart supporters of this of this parade and the activities that day. And so we have some wonderful displays in both of these are gonna be in the Manhattan Town Center Mall. If you go in through that points and third street entrance, you'll see our displays of Manhattan veterans and their stories. It's gonna be on some boards that have been put up. They're just fantastic. Um, and then continue into the mall, and I think it's down by Bath and Body Works, is where we're going to have our uh in one of the storefronts. The mall has generously allowed us to display um I'm gonna artifacts, yeah, I suppose is the best way to say it. Memorabilia that Mark Kai Mike Cardello collected through the years to include uniforms and just wonderful things from his travels. It's amazing. And you can go in, and this is assisted. Uh we have assisted from Kansas Armed Forces E-9 Association Sunflower Chapter. They're on board this year to help out. And last year and the year before, I think.
SPEAKER_01:And I'm standing at parade rest as I say the E-9 Association, because that's all the SARM majors and the senior non-commissioned officers. So you better show some respect down there, David. That would be new for me. Obviously.
SPEAKER_00:So that that is something that we're particularly proud of, and that that's continuing on.
SPEAKER_01:Another neat thing is some of the some of the information that goes behind the research into some of those artifacts comes from our folks at Kansas State University, the history department out there. You know, you've got guys like uh the guy who's in charge, Andrew Orr. Yeah, he's he helps out with identifying things. And you got Suzanne Orr and their lovely daughter Sarah that are out there. So we do they all help out to make this community thing happen.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, absolutely. How much more time do I have?
SPEAKER_01:We'll take the whole half hour, Mr. DeMille. Let's wrap things up here.
SPEAKER_00:We will wrap it up. Okay. All right.
SPEAKER_02:And and you know, the Flint Hills Veterans Coalition does so many things. How can people get involved or follow along?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I'm so glad you asked. So our next meeting is going to be October 28th at 10 a.m., the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce. So we welcome all new members. And you don't have to be a veteran to join. Um, you just have to be patriotic. Yeah. And then I do want to do a shout out for the Manhattan Military Relations Committee luncheon. That's going to be Wednesday, November 5th at 11:30 a.m. Holiday Inn by the campus, and you can RSVP at chamber um chamber at manhattan.org.
SPEAKER_01:And if you're lucky enough, you can get a dog tag at the parade too. Oh, yeah. I don't want to forget. No parade, no veterans day parade without a dog tag. Yep. And and flags. And flags. Well, and the flags, big deal too, is they go out to the to the various assisted living rooms as well. So yeah. So flags and dog tags go out there. And I got yours in the car. I forgot to bring it in, Your Highness, but I will after this. Highness is a female version. Your holiness. Thank you. Your eminence.
SPEAKER_02:So good to see you, Charles.
SPEAKER_00:So Flinthillsvetrants.org is our website. Um, also our fit Facebook page, Flint Hills Veterans. Um, on and on and on.
SPEAKER_02:Um any questions, David? We're two weeks and a day away. I know. How much fun is that gonna be, right? I know it's gonna be crazy. Is it is it two days? The 11th is what? Huh?
SPEAKER_00:Fifteen days.
SPEAKER_02:Fifteen days. Two weeks on which she's counting. Christine Benny's over here.
SPEAKER_00:I was gonna do it.
SPEAKER_01:She's gonna be our guest next week, so she wanted to speak, but she is undergoing some how can anybody else get a word in with the U.S. That's terrible. It's it's it's just a sin. But she she's got some problems with uh with her voice because she's a little bit uh under the weather.
SPEAKER_00:She's our she's our president, actually.
SPEAKER_01:Melody, it's a delight to have you in this too.
SPEAKER_02:She pulls this chuck. Chuck. As always, you're a yeah. Good to see you. Love you, babe. Too bad we don't have a rapport with each other. It's the GMCF Community Hour here on News Radio KMAN. We're gonna learn more about some things that are happening with uh U. Oh my gosh, UFM. That's always gonna be fun with Alaya here in just a little bit. It's the GMCF community hour on News Radio KMAN. All right, Dave.