More than 60 attended annual free meal hosted by Troop 112 at Elks Lodge
By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news
While veterans enjoyed pancakes, scrambled eggs, and biscuits and gravy at the annual Veterans Day Breakfast on Monday, the Rogue Valley Peace Choir served up patriotic tunes with charisma, their first performance for the event held at the Ashland Elks Lodge each year since 2017.
Kevin Calkins, assistant scoutmaster for Troop 112, cradled a coffee cup in one hand as he shared that they had so many attendees, they had already ran out of eggs as of 9 a.m. About 25 scouts, and some of their siblings, were on hand to help serve and honor at least 60 to 80 veterans and their family members who attended the event.
Among them was Rogue Valley Peace Choir member Bob Altaras, who is one of a handful of veterans who participate in the singing group.
“It’s a wonderful event,” Altaras said, noting he enjoys the involvement by the scouts.
Altaras served as an E-5 U.S. Army reservist from 1961 to 1967 in Fort Lawton, Washington.
“I worked in logistics and Military Occupational Speciality (MOS),” Altaras said, “and so I learned a lot about the military and people who work in the military because I ended up assigning those things to people.”
When asked how he felt about his service, he responded, “It kept me out of Vietnam.”
“I spent a lot of time in the reserves and I met a lot of good friends that are still friends today,” Altaras said. “(Serving in the military) probably led me to being a pretty strong peace advocate, singing in the Peace Choir.”
The Rogue Valley Choir, which is directed by Rob Griswell-Lowry, has performed for Veterans for Peace in prior years, according to members. He spoke to attendees before leading the group in a song called, “Nobody Left Behind.”
Altaras said the Peace Choir tries to perform all over the Rogue Valley, including White City and Shady Cove.
“In Ashland, we’re literally singing to the choir most of the time, and so we make an effort to really get out … to places that really need to hear our message,” Altaras said.
Calkins organizes the veterans breakfast and also a Memorial Day observance.
“I’m a veteran, so this is what we do,” Calkins said.
He noted that for one of his scouts, the Veterans Day breakfast is among her favorite events all year.
Addison Dinger is a seventh-grader at Ashland Middle School and is aiming high — with the goal of reaching Eagle Scout, and serving vets along the way.
“It’s just so fun serving the veterans and talking with them and hearing about their stories,” Dinger said.
“It’s just one of the funnest events of the year,” she added.
Dinger, who said her uncle served in the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, joined scouts in sixth grade. She has had a blast ever since becoming a scout, including a chance to sleep overnight in an aircraft carrier — the U.S.S. Hornet — in San Francisco.
“We do a lot of fun activities, like last year we went to a space museum and got to go to a fun waterpark.
“We go camping all the time,” she added. “We go backpacking all the time.”
She’s already looking forward to staying overnight in a submarine when the troop visits Portland next year.
Email Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at hollyd@ashland.news.
