NORWOOD - Today's Veterans Day ceremonies will have a last-minute sweetener as the Friends of Norwood Firefighters will present Veterans' Services Director Ted Mulvehill with a check for $5,000 to support families with loved ones serving in the armed forces.
The money, which will be presented to Mulvehill at the fire station immediately following speeches and ceremonies on Town Common, will go to the Military Family Support Fund. It will pay for care packages and phone cards for troops overseas.
"This is probably the single largest contribution we've gotten," said Mulvehill, who formed the family support group five years ago. "I think it speaks to the big heart Norwood has in supporting our troops."
The money was raised through a recent pub crawl organized by firefighter and Iraqi war veteran Dennis Mawn.
"They didn't even advertise this thing, it was all word of mouth and it was incredibly heartwarming to see how people supported this," said Mulvehill. "When people found out what they were doing and where the money was going, they'd start pulling out their wallets. It was incredible."
Although troop numbers have declined in recent months, Mulvehill estimates there are still at least a dozen Norwood residents serving overseas and the need for support services remains.
"We've got men and women who have just shipped out and some who are scheduled to go over there - some for their third tour - in the coming months," said Mulvehill. "I am grateful the numbers have been decreasing. We used to have 30 or 35 families in the group and now we're down to a dozen or so."
But with the holiday season approaching, Mulvehill expects a large demand for money to ship packages.
"One of the great things we do is that we reimburse families shipping money - I just had the mother of a Marine in here who had $500 in shipping bills," said Mulvehill. "With the holidays coming up, that's our busiest time of year, but thanks to the Friends group, we'll be able to handle the load."
The day's events will kick off with a Veterans Day Mass at St. Catherine's of Siena at 8 a.m. The annual Veterans Day parade will begin at 10 a.m. and run from Balch School on Washington Street in South Norwood to the Town Common, where there will be a ceremony with keynote speaker, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Paul Zauner at 11 a.m.
Mulvehill expects the Friends of Norwood Firefighters presentation to begin around 11:30.
