LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The students in Jeanette Pope’s fourth and fifth grade classes at Greenwood Elementary School didn’t think it was enough simply to write thank-you notes to the U.S. military veterans being honored Nov. 11 at the University of Louisville.
So they made a quilt instead.
Nearly 70 youngsters worked on the project for about two weeks, each designing an 8-inch square to reflect a patriotic theme, said Greenwood principal June Wade. When they were finished, Wade took the squares home and sewed them together to make a 6-foot by 8-foot patchwork of red, white and blue on a black background.
The students will present the quilt to veterans at an 11 a.m. Veterans Day ceremony at UofL’s Red Barn organized by the university’s student veterans group and its Office of Military and Veteran Student Services. Later, the quilt will be kept on permanent display in the office, said program coordinator Terri Carr.
“We were so touched,” Carr said. “We didn’t expect anything like this.”
About 750 U.S. military veterans are enrolled at UofL this semester. Besides opening a new office in August to serve them, the university is taking part in a national “vet friendly” campaign to raise more scholarship money for veterans.
Retired U.S. Marine Corp Major General Rick Huck will speak at UofL’s Veterans Day ceremony, which also will include a presentation of awards by retired U.S. Army Major General Bob Silverthorn. Students from UofL’s Army and Air Force ROTC programs will perform the color guard at the ceremony.
The Veterans Day event is free and open to the public. For more information about the ceremony or UofL’s veterans services office, call Joe Dablow at 502-852-4969. For more details on the quilt, call June Wade or Jeanette Pope at 502-485-8260.