As the thermostat continued to climb into the 90’s, dozens of volunteers scrambled to complete last-minute touches on the first Armed Forces Day celebration held at the Citrus Heights Veteran’s Community Center on Sylvan Road on May 20, 2017.

The advertised spaghetti feed turned out to be an even better rigatoni feed and wine tasting with the meal prepared and served by volunteers from American River College (ARC) Culinary Arts.

Four members of the Del Campo High School Honor Guard from Carmichael began the evening with the presentation of colors and Pledge of Allegiance. Assemblyman Ken Cooley thanked and honored the veterans present. He said remembering the “indivisible” in the Pledge of Allegiance helps us enjoy our future when we can work together as we do here in Citrus Heights, working alongside our community and the City.

Tim Whelan with the Citrus Heights Vet (Resource) Center at 5650 Sunrise Blvd, was Master of Ceremonies. Guitarist Doug Ellington set the festive tone for the evening. In-between sets, he engaged his audience of 160 attendees, honoring those present who had served in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, Korea, Desert Storm and two veterans who had served during World War II.

The meal was entirely homemade by students, many of them veterans, from the ARC Culinary program. Under the direction of Tim Shields, two dozen volunteers helped serve and to clean up at the end of the evening. Sacramento Produce Express, and Farmer’s Market, Citrus Heights donated vegetables for the salad and strawberries for the strawberry shortcake.

Purchased in 2013 by Jim and Jean Rounsavell, the center has been undergoing continuous renovations. This fundraiser marks a milestone in the work. John Klunder with Ferguson Plumbing donated the bathroom fixtures and accessories for the two Americans with Disability (ADA) compliant bathrooms. Hundreds of hours of sweat equity from dozens of volunteers over many months went into the project. Their completion makes it possible to bring in veterans to learn how to use the center’s new ParaGolfer machine designed to help them work through issues of PTSD and other disabilities while learning to golf.

At the end of the evening, as Shields was inspiring his crew for the final clean-up tasks, he thanked them for coming to help as “this place is near and dear to my heart.” It was evident this sentiment was shared by all at this event and are looking forward to the next Armed Forces Day celebration in 2018.