By BOBBIE GREEN
The Progress
Mesquite’s week-long observance of Veterans Day was continued on Wednesday, Nov. 7 by the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce. It was the annual ‘Salute to Veterans’ membership luncheon held at the Casablanca Resort.
Chamber members brought military veterans as their guests to the event. Each veteran was called out by name and honored by Christi Neff, Chamber Board chairperson.
The special guest was a spry 99-year-old Navy veteran named John Handel. He spent 42.5 years serving his country.
Chamber President/CEO Carol Koslon did a sit-down interview with Handel during the luncheon. Handel kept the audience laughing while he explained, as a needed electronic technician back in the day, he was asked to keep serving after his three years were up.
Handel said that his response to his superiors was: “I would have to think on staying, because the pay isn’t that good.”
“I was then offered to be transferred to Civil Service with a GS11 rating, where the pay blew my mind,” he added.
After several years, serving in a variety of locations keeping Navy ships running in good condition, and with the advent of the newer smaller computers he was not trained on, he was then asked to go into naval training.
Handel said that this time his response was: “My wife likes the money I make here.”
“They upgraded my rating a bit and I went into training,” he added.
After several years in that position, he was moved to helping new projects start-ups, since he was already familiar with many different locations. Finally, as he put it, “They said I could retire, and I did.”
“We were very honored to have 99-year-old veteran John Handel to join us and tell us a little about his military career,” Kolson said. “He is the only veteran that I know who has served in WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam.”
Another special guest at the luncheon was Carnell “Golden Pipes” Johnson, the official anthem singer for the Vegas Golden Knights Games. Johnson sang the National Anthem, as well as a rendition of “Amazing Grace” for the audience, with his deep baritone voice singing a cappella.
Local realtor Karen Fielding was the November Luncheon sponsor. She spoke about her business and expressed gratitude to the veterans and mentioned her son is a Marine.
ACT Auto Care owners Darko and Tracy Roskar brought their friends Navy veteran Loma Norrison and Marine veteran George Norrison to the luncheon. Each of the Norrisons won a door prize.
Realtor and Chamber member Annie Black brought two full tables of veterans as her guests to the event.
Many raffle prizes were handed out, thanks to the generous donations from the local businesses. Each veteran received a swag bag from the Chamber as they left the luncheon.
“We had approximately 44 veterans in attendance for this luncheon,” said Kolson. “Each year, the luncheon grows. This is one of the Chamber’s favorite luncheons honoring the veterans who have served us to protect our freedom. We hope everyone had a great time. It was certainly our pleasure to host this luncheon.”
