{"id":33316,"date":"2025-11-04T21:10:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/33316\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T21:10:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:10:14","slug":"museum-salutes-citys-veterans-active-military","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/33316\/","title":{"rendered":"Museum salutes city\u2019s veterans, active military"},"content":{"rendered":"


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From left, Charlie Pease, Mariner High School JROTC cadets Blake Manning and Victor Carrillo and Linda Biondi prepare for Saturday\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

CRAIG GARRETT<\/p>\n

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Guns n Hoses Pipes n Drums of SWFL performed at the Salute to Service and Sacrifice Saturday.<\/p>\n

CRAIG GARRETT<\/p>\n

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The Calendar Girls were among those performing at the museum program Saturday.<\/p>\n

CRAIG GARRETT<\/p>\n

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The Cape Coral Museum of History\u2019s artifact collection is wide-ranging and instructive.<\/p>\n

CRAIG GARRETT<\/p>\n

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On a lazy morning under a gentle sun, Cape Coral thanked its active and former service members.<\/p>\n

A Salute to Service and Sacrifice on Saturday was the first such tribute organized by the Cape Coral Museum of History.<\/p>\n

The event was an advance of Veterans Day, which honors American servicemen and women. Armistice Day was acknowledged in\u00a01919\u00a0by President Woodrow Wilson, then became a U.S. holiday in 1938.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s tribute was co-hosted by the title sponsor, Incredible Bank.<\/p>\n

The event at the museum\u2019s campus on Cultural Park Boulevard mustered veteran groups, vendors, entertainment and tributes from such dignitaries as Mayor John Gunter, Florida Rep. Mike Giallombardo and Lee County Commissioner Brian Hamman.<\/p>\n

Entertainers on the docket included Guns n Hoses Pipes n Drums of SWFL, the Calendar Girls dance troupe, Cape police and fire honor guards, a Mariner High School JROTC rifle demonstration unit, music and DJ Robert Gonnelli.<\/p>\n

Sponsors, vendors, information booths and tours of the museum\u2019s collections were available, as well as police motorcycles, military trucks and Jeeps, firefighters and giveaways. Veterans in uniform, their families and visitors rounded out the first day of November.<\/p>\n

An American flag hanging from a ladder truck wafted over the museum grounds as Christian Life Academy middle-schooler Isabella Clark, unaccompanied, sang the National Anthem. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Jeanne Schwerd, wife of Eagles tribute singer Joe Kelly, was \u201clooking forward to the day. We just hope for a good crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giallombardo, an Army veteran, noted the city is veteran friendly.<\/p>\n

And, he said, \u201cwe can\u2019t take that for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gunter applauded the event organizers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny opportunity,\u201d he said of veterans and active servicemembers, \u201cwe should remember them, in my opinion, each and every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charlie Pease, serving with the museum\u2019s board of directors, was master of ceremonies. He urged visitors to view Cape Coral\u2019s quirky backstory from its artifact collection.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s planning, Pease said, included \u201cincorporating the history of the Cape Coral Museum (of History),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are an all-volunteer board with a limited budget, so this, I think, is amazing,\u201d he added, with a sweep of his hand on park grounds<\/p>\n

A Purple Heart city with thousands of veterans, the tribute at Cultural Park seemed fitting, Linda Biondi, museum board vice president and chair of A Salute to Service and Sacrifice, had said in advance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a perfect day,\u201d she said Saturday.<\/p>\n

The museum\u2019s executive director Janel Trull added: \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a wonderful thing to honor those who served their country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gloria Raso Tate, as a child was among Cape Coral\u2019s original settlers, watched as Saturday morning unfolded with a warming sun. She recalled that Joe Raso, her father, had purchased 65 years ago upon hearing a promotional ad in New Jersey, one lot for each of his four kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd none of us wanted them,\u201d she said of her father\u2019s decision, laughing and adding that \u201cit\u2019s a privilege (to work) on an event that honors veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n


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