Patriotic tunes honor veterans at Nahant ceremony

NAHANT – The Johnson School shook up its Veterans Day Memorial Reception a bit on Friday, when the North Shore Songsters added a few Russian folk songs to their lineup of patriotic tunes.Victor Dal Pozzal, director of the chorus, said that Russian and American soldiers created a cultural bond when the Allies met up at the Elbe River in Germany in 1945.Dal Pozzal said the Americans taught the Russians the drinking song, “Tavern in the Town,” and the Russians taught the Americans “Katiusha,” a love song. The Russians ended up absorbing “Tavern in the Town” into their own culture, keeping the tune but changing the lyrics so it became a song about a cheating soldier and his lover, he said.Songsters member Nella Zaitchik sang the two songs for the approximately 60 veterans, parents and teachers in the Johnson School Community, who gathered for the fifth-and sixth-grade joint commemorative reception for Nahant veterans Friday afternoon. Zaitchik said she remembers being taught “Katiusha” when she was a child in Russia.View a photo gallery”It’s a beautiful song, and it’s easy to sing,” she said.Dal Pozzal said he thought the significance of the Russian songs were just as important to Veterans Day as the usual patriotic songs they sang.”I thought, ‘Let’s put a new twist on it.’ You don’t get to hear the songs of the Allies,” said Dal Pozzal. “The Russians lost 20 million people, more than we ever did. Music transcends languages, and people are people.”The 42 fifth and sixth graders had plenty of their own contributions to the 90-minute reception in the cafetorium of the Johnson School.The students sang and recited patriotic poems about how important it is to thank the veterans and be proud to be an American. Principal Diane Mulcahy said the students had been working for weeks to memorize the poems and songs.Members of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts served as the color guard of the event, marching through the room with the flags for the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance. At the doors, students handed out programs with hand-drawn eagles and soldiers on the cover, and a booklet filled with poems and letters from the students thanking the veterans.On the walls of the cafetorium were photos and newspaper clippings of wars and veterans, including Swampscott natives Army Spc. Jared Raymond, who died in September 2006 and Marine Capt. Jennifer Harris, who died in February 2007 serving in Iraq.”Our last poem says it all,” said student Max Wright as he and fellow student Lauren Kersten closed the reception:”Let’s never forget their sacrifice (and) the hard, heavy work that was done ? our heroes keep us safe, and all of us owe them a lot.”Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].