Every year Fair Grove holds an honorable assembly, to acknowledged the men and women who fought for our country. Chris Stallings, the high school principal, always enjoys the task. He said, “This assembly is one of my favorite days of the year. I think it is very important and certainly honorable that we take the time to say thank you to those who have served and to reflect on what they sacrificed. Ultimately that is the purpose of our Veterans day assembly. We want to say thank you to our Veterans but we also want our students to learn to appreciate the sacrifices that have been made by our Veterans to ensure our freedoms here at home.”

Fair Grove admires what our Veterans have done for the community, teaching the students how to appreciate the little things. Valuing the lives that have been handed to people, where they can lay their head down at night and not have to worry if they will have that same bed the next night. Never wondering when their next meal will be. Throwing this assembly for the Veterans in the Fair Grove community is moral to the school and people, showing how much we honor them.

Mr. Stallings stated, “There are a lot of special things about the Veterans Day assembly but what stands out the most to me is the pride that you see on the face of our Veterans as they enter the gymnasium and as they stand when they hear the song played of their respective branch of service. From a personal standpoint I love seeing our Veterans, being able to shake their hands and thank them for their sacrifice.” It fills people’s hearts when they are able to stand proudly and say what they have offered to the community.

“Veterans assemblies have been a long standing tradition all the way back to “Armistice Day” following World War I which would later become nationally known as Veterans Day. Many schools, like Fair Grove, became the setting of Veterans Days Assemblies as students and communities came together to honor our Veterans. I don’t know the official date of when Fair Grove High School hosted its first assembly but it is a long standing tradition that has been in place for many years,” added Mr. Stallings. Beginning this task, honoring the heroes, and thanking them for all they have sacrificed to the country makes the Fair Grove School District proud and proud to say that freedom is everywhere because of our Veterans.