Area October 9, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 27 Gold Star Mothers honored at local ceremony The solemn occasion of Gold Star Mother’s Day was recently observed at Van Neste Park, Ridgewood. This annual event pays tribute to the mothers of those military service members who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the service of the United States. People from Ridgewood, Ho-Ho-Kus, Saddle River, Wyckoff, and other local communities attended the cer- An empty pair of combat boots pays tribute to fallen soldiers at the ceremony. emony coordinated and conducted by the Ridgewood Gold Star Mother’s Day Committee. In the aftermath of World War I, Washington, D.C. resident Grace Darling Seibold, formed Gold Star Moth- ers, an organization to support mothers who had lost sons and daughters to the war. Seibold’s son, First Lieutenant George Vaughn Seibold, was an aviator killed in combat over France in 1918. In 1928, the group decided to nation- alize its efforts. In 1936, a joint congressional resolution established the last Sunday in September as Gold Star Mother’s Day. Today, Gold Star Mothers has tens of thou- sands of members and hundreds of local chapters. According to Stanley Kober, former commander of VFW Post 192, the first joint, publically coordinated, local Gold Star Mother’s Day Ceremony started in 2010. At that time, the Blue Star Mothers Chapter 3 of North Jersey (each Blue Star mother has at least one son or daughter cur- rently serving in the military) asked the Ridgewood Ameri- can Legion Post 53 and the Washington Elm VFW Post 192 (Ridgewood--Ho-Ho-Kus) to join in a simultaneous, multi-municipality (Ridgewood, Ho-Ho-Kus, Wyckoff, and Wanaque) ceremony commemorating the Gold Star Mothers in the North Jersey area. In 2011, Ridgewood resident Maria Bombace, mother of an Iraq combat Marine who is now commander of VFW Post 192 and another son currently serving in the U.S. Army, coordinated and conducted a ceremony in Ridgewood at Van Neste Park that has become the mainstay event in this area for Gold Star Mother’s Day. This year, approximately 1,000 luminarias graced the walkways in and around Van Neste Park. Prior to this ceremony, the officials from Ridgewood and Ho-Ho-Kus promulgated resolutions in their respective communities recognizing this occasion. In addition to the large turnout of the general public, in attendance at this year’s ceremony were local clergy members, Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan, Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn, Ridgewood Council- woman Gwenn Hauck and other council members, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Ridgewood High School students and representatives of Project Interact, Blue Star Mothers Chapter 3 of North Jersey President Marge Sietsma and several of the chapter’s members, Leslie Kruithof of the NJ State Elks Association Project Hope, numerous military veterans, and at least one Gold Star Mother. As an important adjunct to the ceremony, VFW Post 192 Commander Matt Bombace provided a Soldier’s Cross, A veteran plays ‘Taps’ for the crowd. which had a very special meaning to him and the other combat comrades in attendance. After a prayer by local clergy and then a brief introduc- tion and Pledge of Allegiance by Bob Paoli, Ridgewood’s American Legion Post 53 commander, Maria Bombace (continued on page 29)