Veterans Honored at GDES Ceremony

Glen Dale Elementary School celebrated American Veterans Wednesday afternoon, just two days ahead of Veterans Day, with a program at Glen Dale City Park.  

Special guests included the Moundsville Veterans Honor Guard and GDES alumnus Kaden Minch.  

Minch is an Eagle Scout with Troop 82. He is a junior at John Marshall High School where he was selected as a member of the National Honor Society and the National Technical Honor Society. He also plays the trumpet in the band. He chose to honor veterans when selecting his Eagle Scout project.  

“I wanted to re-create the old memorial site at the Glen Dale City Park,” Minch explained. “To complete the project, I added poles and flags representing each branch of the military which are Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and the Coast Guard. In addition, we have a pole for our US and POW flags. To add to the flag poles, we completed landscaping so we could have a place for our citizens to enjoy and our military members could feel honored.” Minch addressed the crowd Wednesday. 

Glen Dale Elementary School Music teacher Kathy Fox was proud to feature Kaden and hoped that his message inspired her students to get involved and to share their time and talents within their communities. “We decided to hold our program at the park after one student, Levi Edman, commented on how much he loves to see the memorial site while at the park. I wanted to be sure that our students were aware of Kaden’s efforts, and I am thrilled that Kaden was willing to share his story with us.” 

The program concluded with a patriotic sing-along and parade of flags.