Fishkill honors veterans; local mental-health program highlights services

The village of Fishkill gathered for a Veterans Day ceremony that included local recognitions, music, prayers and a keynote on services available to veterans.

Moderator opened the event by welcoming attendees and saying, “Happy Veterans Day to you all,” then named a number of local officials and volunteers in attendance and thanked organizers for putting the program together.

Victor Zamlof, identified as a program manager with Mental Health America’s veterans programs in Dutchess County, told the audience his organization offers employment, housing, suicide-prevention and general-support programs for veterans and their families. Zamlof invited veterans to visit the Veterans One-Stop on Route 44, saying the site includes a small food pantry and a clothes closet and that the group partners with local providers including Castle Point and Montrose to connect people with care. He said veterans make up “about 6%” of the general population.

Pastor Lavine led both an invocation and a benediction, asking the community to remember sacrifice and to support returning service members. Brendan Sohan performed the national anthem and closed the ceremony with “God Bless America.”

Organizers invited attendees to continue the observance inside the village hall for warmth, coffee and lunch, and announced that the Fishkill Rotary and Mool's Funeral Home donated a new flag-retirement box to the community; a noon service was planned next door. The ceremony concluded with thanks to veterans, their families and those who helped stage the event.

The program was primarily ceremonial and informational; there were no motions, votes or formal government actions recorded at the event.