Once again with feeling for Marblehead vets

MARBLEHEAD – Make no mistake about it, Glover School first-graders know how to make a Veterans Day entrance.After walking half a mile from their school in Wednesday afternoon?s stiff breezes, Glover School?s 77 first-graders entered the Marblehead Community Center to the brisk marching tune of “Anchors Aweigh,” wearing red, white and blue clothing.To read the Daly Item’s Veterans Day special section, go to www.itemlive.com/veterans.Police Lt. David Millett played the upbeat 104-year-old Navy fight song on the stereo of his personal car, just to set the proper mood.The students didn?t come empty-handed. Many carried original drawings, which they and longer-armed parents placed on the walls near the stage. An overflow crowd of enthusiastic parents, grandparents and local residents applauded when the students arrived.The drawings featured American Flags, eagles, the Statue of Liberty and one by Dylan Kemble that showed Abraham Lincoln wearing a stovepipe hat with an eagle and the Liberty Bell on it.They had already performed for the Eveleth School kindergartners – these students were kindergartners there themselves last year – and a school parents? meeting.First-grade Veterans Day performances have become a school tradition during the past seven years.?A Thank You to Our Veterans” included 11 patriotic songs and recitations, ranging from social reformer Woody Guthrie?s 1940 “This Land Is Your Land” to country singer Lee Greenwood?s 1980s hit “God Bless the USA.” The children?s song “Do You Know the Muffin Man?” lent its tune to a song called “Do You Know Where I Find Peace?”The first-graders acted out some lyrics, walking in place for Guthrie?s line “As I was walking.” Their finale, “God Bless the USA” brought prolonged applause and cheers.Teachers Diane Gora, Maria Moss, Brenda Perroni and Mimi Shapiro took a bow and the accompanist, music teacher Dara VanRemoortel, received a bouquet for her efforts.?The kids love the patriotic songs,” said Shapiro.Every parent in the room knew that this event, which has had five rehearsals since mid-October, couldn?t happen without what Mrs. Perroni called “good support,” parents who helped the students practice and memorize their partsKathy Lofmark said her daughter, Madison, rehearsed every night.?My daughter loves to sing, she had no problem belting out those songs and I think she had them memorized in two or three days,” she said.She and her friends agreed that all the children put a lot of heart-felt feeling into their performance, and they connected with at least one member of the audience.Introduced as a school employee and veteran, Eveleth School custodian Rick Mace watched children he remembered from last year. The 1975-79 veteran, a nephew of former Selectman and Vietnam War veteran Harry Christensen, wore a bright red Marine Corps League jacket. When they sang “God Bless the USA” it was obvious to those nearby that Mace was struggling to control his feelings.Asked about the performance beforehand, he had a simple answer. “It makes you feel good,” he said.