VETERANS TO THE RESCUE ARSON CAN'T STOP GIRL'S DREAM PARTY.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
It was the hardest phone call he'd ever made, recalled Jim Lawson, who knew he was about to break a girl's heart right before one of the biggest days of her life. An early-morning arson fire at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3834 had destroyed a large portion of the 6,000-square-foot building, a historic structure that housed the police station in the early days of San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. . The post where Lawson is quartermaster quartermaster Officer who oversees arrangements for the quartering and movement of troops. The office dates at least to the 15th century in Europe. The French minister of war under Louis XIV created a quartermaster general's department that dotted the countryside with was a mess -- water damage, ashes, smoke. There was no way it could be ready in 48 hours for the girl and the 250 guests she'd invited for her quinceaera celebration. In Latin American culture Latin American culture is the formal or informal expression of the peoples of Latin America, and includes both high culture (literature, high art) and popular culture (music, folk art and dance) as well as religion and other customary practices. , a quinceanera is like a bat mitzvah and a sweet-16 party rolled into one Adj. 1. rolled into one - made up of several components combined into a single entity combined - made or joined or united into one . It's a major milestone for a 15-year-old girl, marking the passage of girlhood and welcoming her adult responsibilies. Now Lawson had to tell the birthday girl and her family that the quinceanera could not be held at the post because of the fire. ``I could hear her and her mother crying in the background, and it tore my heart out,'' Lawson said last week. ``This was going to be the biggest day of her life, and now it was ruined. I felt like we had let her down.'' The veterans had not done so, of course. The arson fire wasn't their fault. Contractually, they could simply have refunded the $1,000 the family had paid to rent the hall and not given it a second thought. But the 200 members of Post 3834 -- veterans of conflicts from World War II to Iraq -- don't live their lives simply by contract. They live by their word. ``We felt we had a moral obligation to fulfill here,'' said post Cmdr. Gary Ballin, a Vietnam War Vietnam War, conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam. vet. Standing amid the rubble the morning after the Jan. 11 fire, the men weren't talking about the records and memorabilia the fire had destroyed. They were talking about the broken-hearted birthday girl and the obligation they felt to find her another venue for her quinceanera. Lawson, Ballin and bar manager Patricia Esparanza called other VFW See Video for Windows. and American Legion American Legion, national association of male and female war veterans, founded (1919) in Paris. Membership is open to veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. posts, but none could handle a party that big. ``A few of the bigger restaurants had a room available on Saturday, but they wanted $5,000 or $6,000,'' Lawson said. ``I told them we wanted to rent the room, not buy it.'' VFW members were more than willing to kick in $1,000 or more of the post's own money to find a new room. The guys were also willing to provide security, bartenders and a cleanup crew at no cost to make this party happen. But the clock was ticking ticking a coat color pigmentation pattern in which hairs of one color are distributed in small groups throughout the background color, e.g. Australian cattle dog. Called also speckling. . The guys called more than 30 places, and none could handle a party that size on such short notice. Then the guys got lucky and found a banquet room banquet room n. A large room, as in a restaurant, suitable for banquets. in Mission Hills where they wouldn't be charged an arm and a leg for a few hours of use. ``When they told us the story, we felt bad for the family and were touched by what these men were trying to do,'' said Katherine Miyadi, assistant general manager of the Guest House Inn. ``They had just suffered a major fire destroying much of their post, but they were more worried about a girl's birthday party. ``The least we could do was give them a hand,'' she said. In all, it cost the members of VFW Post 3834 about $1,200 to make Paola Garcia's quinceanera happen. When I called, Paola wasn't home; she was out somewhere, still walking on air. ``She was so happy,'' said her cousin, Brenda Salazar. ``When she thought her party was in trouble, she cried for two days, but it all turned out great. Everybody came and had so much fun. ``You know, it was nice what those men did for her,'' Brenda said. Yeah, it was, Honey. Very nice. dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3749 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Gary Bellin, left, commander, and James Lawson For details on the English football (soccer) player, see James Lawson (footballer) James M. Lawson (born September 22, 1928 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania) was a leading theoretician and tactician of nonviolence within the American Civil Rights Movement He continues to be , quartermaster, stand in front of the VFW Post 3834 building in San Fernando, heavily damaged by arson. Members managed to find another site for a girl's planned quinceanera party. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion