Performers played and sang as audience members enjoyed food from food trucks. A lone couple danced to jazz music, but most others tapped their feet to keep rhythm. Monday’s festival brought together Orange County veterans and community members to celebrate Veterans Day with food and local musicians.
It was a time for members of the senior center to socialize and do something different with their Monday night.
“I just come to meet other veterans,” said Frank Parker, a member of the Seymour Center. “I live alone and this is another way of getting out of my apartment.”
Parker served as a Marine during the Korean war. He said he is mostly deaf and partially blind, but the Department of Veterans Affairs has helped him deal with both. Parker said without them, he would be out of luck.
He sat with Stephanie Greenberg and her father Dick Soder, a Navy veteran. They all met for the first time and said that was what made these events so great. “I think this conversation we just had here was the best part of the night,” Soder said.
Cydneé Sims, operations manager for the Seymour Center, organized the music fest and said they always love honoring the nation’s veterans. This is the second year they have done an official event, but plan to continue the tradition and do something different every year.
She also mentioned the center’s Wall of Honor, a representation of all the veterans who have served their country who are members of the center.
When the audience was asked how many veterans came out for the event, over half of the room raised their hands.
