Veterans attend luncheon to mark Veterans Day

Hundreds of veterans and their families filled the Oldham-Cummings Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #6441 to observe Veterans Day in Wimberley. A barbeque luncheon, organized by Veterans Day committee chair Mike Lukowiak, drew well over 300 people who savored the generous meal with other service members. “It was,” he said, “the largest Veterans Day observance at the post in recent years.”

Introductions , handshakes, gentle barbs about rival service branches and stories of connections and deployments characterized the warm camaraderie in the hall.

Along with Lukowiak, Post Commander Huey Sandifer, Service Officer John Fraser, John Stoley, and other post officers moved among the tables to visit with veterans and to thank them for their service, to inquire of their well-being and to provide reminders of the services available to them.

Chef David Guzman and Ryan Harris, who began barbequing briskets and drumsticks at 7:30 p.m. the evening before, were tired but smiling and telling jokes as they worked to serve the large crowd. In all, they roasted 240 pounds of brisket, 420 pounds of drumsticks and 240 pounds of sausage. Members of the Daughters of the American Revolution served up generous portions and sides. Boy Scouts from Troop 127 cleared plates and offered their assistance.