Applause Letters for Nov. 30
Thanks to Rep. Gardner for story of grandmother's service
Congressman Cory Gardner, I want to thank you.
I visited with you at the airport in the spring of 2012 when you were there to help send off the Honor Flight that I was privileged to go on. Thank you for attending the Veterans Day Program on Nov. 11 in Greeley. Thank you, also, for your Rosie the Riveter article in the Tribune.
Your Rosie the Riveter article excited me for three reasons. Recently there have been two former Rosies, both in their 90s, featured on television programs. One of them is still working in the same factory she did during World War II, and still riveting. The other is a tour guide in a museum that was established in the factory where she worked as a Rosie. They are both fabulous examples of the determination and fortitude of American women.
The second reason your article excited me is the part about your grandmother being a welder in a shipyard at Portland, Ore. To my knowledge, there was only one shipyard there, the Kaiser Shipyard at Vancouver, Wash., just across the Columbia River from Portland. The reason this excited me is that my father, Gilbert Bracken, went to night school in Illinois ­­— where we lived from 1938-1942 — to learn to weld. When he finished the school, he was hired as a welder in the Kaiser Shipyard at Vancouver. Perhaps my father worked with your grandmother as they welded on ships. One of the highlights of our time there was when Eleanor Roosevelt came to christen one of the first ships built there. The families of all the shipyard workers were invited to attend. She had to hit the wine bottle on the ship twice before she broke it.
The third reason the article excited me is that it reminded me of the service represented in my wife Maxine's family as well as in my family. Maxine's father, Frank Miller of Hillsdale, Wyo., served in the army in World War I. He went to Europe where he was captured by the Germans. He was one of the prisoners on the infamous Death March of World War I.
Maxine's mother was a Rosie working in a factory in Cheyenne that produced rivets for World War II war planes. Maxine's oldest brother, Frank Jr., a World War II B24 tail-gunner, was shot down and did not survive. Maxine's other brother, Robert, spent nearly two years in the army in Korea.
Gary K. Bracken, Evans
Thanks to supporters of 'A Christmas Carol'
The Stampede Troupe is about to open our 12th annual holiday production, and we would like to thank all of our supporters of "A Christmas Carol."
We begin by giving the production to almost 2,000 students in the area. Each of the students have received their own copy of the novel "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, and the teachers have received a reading curriculum that has been matched to the state standards to use with their students. In the past 12 years, more than 20,000 students have seen the show and we have given more than 15,000 books to the students. We are so thankful to our business donors and individual donors who have helped make this a successful outreach production to the students.
Tylene Gagnon, Greeley
Friends, family make poppy queen event special
Our thanks to all our friends, family and businesses for their support in the crowning of Arianna Ochoa as poppy queen on Nov. 16.
Our thanks to everyone who cooked the delicious meal. The music by the DJ was great to dance to.
Sandy Ochoa, Ault
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