Boosters set for WAA event

If you like buying raffle tickets to win valuable prizes like liquor baskets and a Yeti cooler, plan on being at the Kelley-Gazzerro VFW Post 2812 on Plainfield Pike tomorrow night between 7 and 9 o’clock.

If you enjoy helping veterans and honoring those heroic men and women who once fought or are still active and preserving our freedom, you’ll get a chance during tomorrow night’s Wreaths Across America wine and beer tasting event.

Tomorrow night’s event, which is being coordinated by the Ponaganset High School Football Boosters Club, hopes to continue its storied tradition of hosting the annual WAC Memorial Event on Dec. 10 that Chairman Mike Calenda will tell you is “one of the most moving and heart-felt events” he’s ever attended.

WAC is a program that started in Harrington, Maine by a young paper boy who once wrote and essay and later became a tree farmer who had a surplus of holiday wreaths and sent them to the Arlington National Cemetery to be placed on veterans stones.

Now, WAC is a nation-wide program that ensures each and every stone in the Arlington National Cemetery will have a wreath during the holiday season.

Moreover, WAC has become known as the world’s largest veterans’ parade that shows our veterans and their families we will not forget – we will never forget and it also teaches, as Calenda wanted it known, “We also teach our students to remember the fallen, honor those who served and teaches our children the values of freedom.”

Locally, a crowed estimated at 2,000-plus people will take in the WAC memorial service on Dec. 10 inside Ponaganset High’s fieldhouse.

That is why several business owners – namely Tri-Town Wine & Spirits in Johnston and Graham Builders in Smithfield – have signed on as sponsors of tomorrow night’s unique event that Calenda announced will featured upwards of 30 valuable raffle prizes as a further way too boost the night’s coffers.

Just Friday morning, volunteer committee members Judi Graham – who along with her husband David owns and operates Graham Builders – and Linda LaFazia picked up a Yeti Cooler from Steve Larco and Bert Alvarado of Tri-Town Wine & Spirits that’s valued over $400 and will be part of tomorrow night’s mega-raffle.

For the sporting set, the WAC Wine & Beer Tasting will also have a silent sports memorabilia to raise funds and ticket buyers will enjoy appetizers, picky foods, and hot dogs cooked in beer by Spirit’s Italian Restaurant that’s located in the storied VFW Post on the Cranston-Johnston line.

Also, every ticket buyer will receive a free class courtesy of David and Judi Graham and Graham Builders.

“We’re predicting a great evening,” said Calenda and his co-chair Vin LaFazia of JMCE fame. “We are thankful for each and every sponsor; please, come and purchase a ticket for only $20 per person that will help continue WAC’s annual pilgrimage from Harrington, Maine to Arlington National Cemetery.”