This fall marks 10 years since Operation Merry Christmas, a CD of holiday and patriotic music performed by Jefferson City High School music students, was released.
As part of that project, the "USA Kids" - 116 Jefferson City Public School first- and second-graders - also recited the Pledge of Allegiance and gave heartfelt messages to our troops and veterans.
The CD includes interviews with local World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and Desert Storm veterans about their wartime experiences.
The Operation Bugle Boy Advisory Board, the group responsible for the annual veterans appreciation dinner, is sponsoring the production of 2,000 10th Anniversary
Special Edition Operation Merry Christmas CDs. These CDs will be sold locally, with all proceeds divided between the Central Missouri Honor Flight and the Jefferson City Veterans Council.
Several USA Kids, now high school juniors and seniors, along with local veterans who were interviewed for the CD, will be on hand for the Operation Merry Christmas 10th Anniversary Kickoff Reunion at 6 p.m. Thursday in the JCHS cafeteria.
The event will serve as the official start of the campaign to sell the CDs for $10 each. Many USA Kids have also volunteered to be part of the campaign's sales team.
For more information about the fundraiser, contact JCPS Community Relations at 659-3018 or Chris Jarboe, Operation Bugle Boy Advisory Board chair, at 896-8857.