Friday morning, the first of what is hoped to be several field trips took place at the Central Texas Veterans Memorial, where several local veterans explained the monuments and other objects on display.
Approximately 60 kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Brown County toured the facility.
“During one of the ceremonies one year, some gentleman, no one remembers who it was, said, ‘wouldn’t it be great as we grow if we could have a playground out here where kids could come and have a learning experience,’” said Dennis Rumfeld, a Central Texans Veterans Memorial board member that helped organize Friday’s event. “That stuck in my head. Now this is the first field trip and we’re wanting to build on it.”
Katherine Palmer, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Brown County, said, “I feel like it’s important for the kiddos to know our local history when it comes to the armed forces and know this hits close to home for everybody. When we talked about the field trip yesterday at lunch we had kids raise their hand if they have a family member in the military and about 80 percent of the kids raised their hands, so a lot of them have a personal connection to the armed forces. This is a good experience to see what’s here in town.”
Rumfeld elaborated on recruiting the Boys and Girls Club as the first field trip.
“I know Katherine Palmer, who is with the Boys and Girls Club, and I just mentioned to her about trying to get them out here for a field trip,” Rumfeld said. “This week is the patriotic week theme at the Boys and Girls Club, so we organized and got with Hendrick Medical Center, who is going to be providing pizza for the kids.”
With the first field trip a success, Rumfeld looks forward to many more in the future.
“This is the first field trip and we’re wanting to build on it,” Rumfield said. “We want to put the word out and make awareness of this. We’d like to get with school districts and bring their kids out. We’re also open to civic organizations, church groups, whoever wants to come out here and see the memorial.”
