Honoring George Blake

One of the "Snowbirds" here in the park, George Blake, is one of the few remaining living survivors of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. George was a 19 year old soldier in the US Army stationed in Pearl at the time.
Last evening we, the residents of the park hosted a special surprise program to honor George. We announced it as an event to honor all of the former service men here in the park so little did he know that the main focus of the evening was for him. The Lake Havasu City VFW sent a color guard and the local newspaper sent a reporter to cover the event. We presented him with a special custom made shirt, photos, flowers for his wife, Helen and showed a short video produced by Brenda Bauldic, a talented videographer here in the park. I wrote the following special poem for the occasion and read it as part of the ceremony. At the conclusion we had all of the former servicemen stand and announce their branch and dates of service. We even have one resident, now living in Canada, who served in the British Army.

The program:

HONORING THE MILITARY PROGRAM

Havasu Falls RV Resort, Lake Havasu City, AZ

Jan 14^th, 2010

6:30 PM Honor Guard…….………....Don Dingman

Invocation & Pledge……….……........Carol Dingman

Introduction of George Blake.….…..Pat Schumacher

Presentation of Gifts to George Blake

Presentation of Flowers to Helen Blake

Poem: "Out of the West They Came"…....…Larry Page

Video Presentation………………........Brenda Bauldic

Retire Colors

Conclusion………...…Recognition of past servicemen

Following the retiring of the colors we had a social hour with cake and ice-cream.