Danville Heroes

By Bernie Marvin

A group of Danville School students and staff is creating a Hometown Heroes program.

A teacher and two students are working hard to create a military veteran's banner program that will display attractive artwork hanging from phone and light poles in the Danville area.

According to Danville Middle and High School Principal Natalie Conway, the program has passed the Danville Select Board and is moving toward completion, with banners eventually to be hung in the Danville area.

The banner program was originally initiated by Luke's Military Museum owner Luke Morrison and his teacher, James Hughes, a noted middle school social studies teacher. Luke, by the way, is 15 years old and a student of Mr. Hughes. 

Principal Conway told The Bridge Weekly recently that the original idea was to hold a fundraiser so the banners could hang and no one would be left out because of the costs. 

Ms. Conway said that Mr. Hughes and Luke shared a descriptive slideshow with the Select Board. She said Luke Morrison is a ninth-grade student with a strong desire to honor local veterans. She noted that Mr. Hughes learned of the slideshow from the Green Mountain Hometown Heroes program in Bennington. Student Haidyn Walsh is also part of the banner crew.

Green Mountain Hometown Heroes is a volunteer-led program that honors local veterans, living and deceased. The group obtains customized banners to display on poles along town-managed streets.

From there, the Middle School Student Council, with Luke and some of his peers, took on the program, and that is how the Danville Select Board slide presentation came to be. The banner slideshow explained the program fully to the Select Board.

It noted that banners were $290.00, payable by the family or from donations to the GMHH, which will order the banner. The cost includes all mounting brackets, shipping, and administrative fees.

The banners will be mounted under the guidance of the power company and the town. The banners will be placed along designated town roads, include information from the application form, and feature a high-quality reproduction of a photograph submitted by the family.

Eligibility is for veterans living or deceased who were born or grew up in Danville, lived in Danville, or are otherwise associated with the town.

This isn't a typical project for middle or high school students to take on. Usually, adult veterans' groups, civic associations, or other adult groups adopt these types of patriotic community programs.

So, it surprised me that the kids and staff at Danville Middle and High Schools went after this banner program. I quickly found out that the Danville High and Middle School staff and student body can also be responsible for other good works.

On a recent trip to Danville, I learned about last year's effort to petition the town to close the high school and send students to other schools. Local news reports noted that anxieties about state education reforms drove the bid to close the school.

The reaction to that petition demand was no surprise, however. People hold Danville High School in a special place, with a strong, close personal bond to the school. The proposal to shut down the school, home of the Danville Bears,  angered the countryside, which is filled with loyal school supporters.

They quickly voted to end the threat, with people voting an overwhelming 480 to 75 to reject the petition that would have closed the school. 

So, the area really had to sit up and defend its small local school after an attempt to close it fell flat. The community clearly supports and loves their school.

As a side note, Danville High School is not unknown to my family or me. My wife Polly's father, Paul Robertson, was a Danville native and graduated from Danville High School in 1924. Her mother, Sylvia Spencer, graduated from Danville High School in 1931.

Both led strong, fully productive lives, always praising their hometown of Danville and their happy school days there.