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Post 160 fund-raiser hauls in $15K for Honor Flight

A check for $15,000 was presented to Northeast Indiana Honor Flight on Oct. 14  at American Legion Post 160 Roanoke.
A check for $15,000 was presented to Northeast Indiana Honor Flight on Oct. 14 at American Legion Post 160 Roanoke. Photo provided.

A fund-raising effort held at American Legion Post 160 Roanoke in September netted a donation of $15,000 for Honor Flight Northeast Indiana.

The second annual fund-raiser was held Sept. 24 at the Roanoke Legion Post, and featured three bands - Acoustic Rush, KTR and Only Son. The benefit was organized by the Post 160 Honor Flight committee.

The donation was made to officials representing Honor Flight Northeast Indiana at an appreciation party held Oct. 14 at the Roanoke Legion.

While it had been planned to be an outdoor concert, everything had to be moved inside when cold and rainy weather moved in just before the start of the event. The foul weather, however, did not diminish the turnout.

The money from this year's benefit will go toward the effort to take World War II veterans from northeast Indiana to Washington, DC, to view the WWII Memorial among other national monuments.

Last year, the Post 160 fund-raiser netted a donation of $14,000 to Honor Flight Northeast Indiana. That money went toward an Oct. 4 Honor Flight to the nation's capital, when 79 veterans and their guardians flew out of Fort Wayne International. That flight included four veterans from Huntington County, six from Wells County and one from Whitley County, among others.

"We were extremely proud to be able to help this cause for a second year," says Luke Klingenberger, who headed up the organizing group for Post 160. "These vets are such fantastic people who gave so much to help us have the freedoms we have today. They truly appreciate the opportunity to take that trip and it's the least we can do for them. They've earned it."

Klingenberger says the effort was aided by donations from several key businesses and groups including the Roanoke Pullers Association, Sons of the Legion, United REMC's Operation Round Up, Walgreens, PHP, and WaterFurnace International.

"And we owe Post 160 a special thanks for hosting what turned out to be a fantastic event," he adds.

"The list of volunteers who were part of this is extremely long," he says. "Given that the weather threw us a curve at the last minute, we could not have pulled this off without the efforts so many good people who helped the planning committee out and did whatever needed to be done."

Complete caption: A check for $15,000 was presented to Northeast Indiana Honor Flight on Oct. 14  at American Legion Post 160 Roanoke.  Making the presentation are (front row from left) Angie Kindler, Bev Swaim, Brad Dinius, Bob Kistler and Tom Meyers; (second row from left)  Matt Dearduff, David Sheppard, Sandie Myer, fund-raiser organizer Luke Klingenberger handing the check to Northeast Indiana Honor flight representative Cathy Berkshire, Mike Schoeneman, Bob Myer, Nellie Keltner and Keith Keltner; and (back row from left) Sue Porter, Mike Buhr, Mike Sheets, Jerry Harris, Dave Yates and Chris Roberts.