Middle schoolers feast on food and conversation with service veterans

MILLBROOK —  For the 17th year, Millbrook Middle School physical education teacher Joseph Carbone hosted a breakfast for U.S. military veterans and Millbrook middle school students Thursday, Nov. 9.

Some of the 19 veterans being celebrated were asked to attend by their children or grandchildren who are student, and some were there solely to share and enjoy the food and camaraderie.

While Carbone himself is not a veteran, both of his grandfathers were. As part of commemorating each of them, he says, he feels that all veterans should be paid homage for having defended their country:

“It’s the right thing to do,” he said.

The visiting veterans and eighth grade students sat at tables decorated with flags and handwritten thank-you notes to vets. Veterans told their stories, answered questions and shared tidbits from their military lives. The youths were respectful and engaged, paying their guests close attention.

After breakfast, the veterans went to the auditorium where the students from the sixth through eighth grades were assembled. As the veterans marched in, they were announced individually, and a cheer went up, loudly, for every one, led on by Carbone and Principal Steve Cabello.    

When the veterans were seated on stage, eighth grader Gabriel Gosselyn played taps on the bugle and the Pledge of Allegiance was said.

Carbone gave a short history of the holiday and this particular event. The students then directed questions to the veterans.

“What was the food like?” 

“We got used to it.”  

“What did you miss the most when you left the service?”  

“The camaraderie, the sharing, the work.”

Asked about the benefits of having served, most answered that they learned to be part of a team, they learned to work hard, and they acquired skills they would not have gotten elsewhere.

Asked to explain what “service” is all about, one said, “It’s about freedom—giving up your freedom to give freedom to others.”

Another, asked to recall the best moment of his service, he said, with a wide grin, “When I got my discharge papers.”

The sole female veteran who attended, Doris Zerafa of Millbrook, answered the question, “What was the most difficult thing you had to do in the service?”

She responded that as a woman, getting accepted as a soldier and a comrade was the hardest part. Because she is a woman, she said, she always had to work harder to prove herself.

After the event, Carbone told The News that one day, a former student had come up to him and told him that, as a middle school student, she hadn’t understood Veterans Day, but had asked her grandfather to participate one year. Before he died, he told her that one of the best moments of his life had been attending the veterans’ breakfast with his granddaughter at the middle school, and how proud he had been that day.

The veterans and the eighth grade students at the Millbrook Middle School enjoy breakfast and conversation together at the 17th annual Veterans Appreciation Breakfast at the middle school Thursday, Nov. 9, organized by teacher Joseph Carbone. Photo by Judith O'Hara Balfe
Related Articles Around the Web

Latest News

Books and bites beckon at the upcoming Sharon Summer Book Signing

Author and cartoonist Peter Steiner signed books at Sharon Summer Book Signing last summer.

Photo by Stephanie Stanton

The 27th annual Sharon Summer Book Signing at the Hotchkiss Library of Sharon will be held Friday, Aug. 1, from 4:45 to 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Aug. 2, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Aug. 3, at noon.

Friday’s festivities will honor libraries and the power of the written word. In attendance will be 29 locally and nationally recognized authors whose books will be for sale. With a wide array of genres including historical fiction, satire, thrillers, young adult and non-fiction, there will be something for every reader.

Keep ReadingShow less
Voices from Ukraine to America come to Stissing Center July 27

Ukraine Emergency Fundraiser at The Stissing Center in 2022 raised over $120,000 for Sunflower of Peace.

Photo by Michael Churton

The spirit of Ukraine will be on display at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains on Sunday, July 27. Beginning at 5 p.m., the “Words to America from Ukraine” fundraiser is set to showcase the simultaneous beauty of Ukrainian culture and the war-time turmoil it faces, all the while fundraising in support of Ukrainian freedom.

“Words to America from Ukraine” aims to remind and spread awareness for the suffering that often gets forgotten by those who live in comfortable worlds, explained Leevi Ernits, an organizer for the event. “We are trying to make an attempt to remind people that we are human, and we are connected with human values,” she said. “With very few words, poetry can express very deep values.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Grumbling Gryphons’ set to celebrate 45th anniversary with gala and summer theater camp

Celebrating its 45th year, the Grumbling Gryphons will perform at HVRHS Friday, Aug. 1, at 7 p.m.

Photo provided

The Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children’s Theater is preparing to celebrate its 45th year — not with fanfare, but with feathers, fabric, myth, chant, and a gala finale bursting with young performers and seasoned artists alike.

The Gryphons’ 2025 Summer Theater Arts Camp begins July 28 and culminates in a one-night-only performance gala at Housatonic Valley Regional High School on Friday, Aug. 1 at 7 p.m. Founder, playwright, and artistic director, Leslie Elias has been weaving together the worlds of myth, movement and theater for decades.

Keep ReadingShow less
Learning calligraphy by hand

Attendees practive brushstrokes led by calligraphy teacher Debby Reelitz.

Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan

Calligrapher Debby Reelitz came to the David M. Hunt Library to give a group of adults and children an introduction to modern calligraphy Thursday, July 17.

Reelitz said she was introduced to calligraphy as a youngster and has been a professional calligrapher and teacher for more than 25 years.

Keep ReadingShow less