Ahead of Veterans Day, the La Cañada Flintridge City Council unanimously approved the budget for a program to honor veterans and active service members in the community in its Oct. 3 meeting.
The Hometown Heroes Program was first brought to the city by Councilman Kim Bowman, and later involved former La Cañada Flintridge Unified School District Board member Kaitzer Puglia, who was also interested in doing a similar program.
The program will recognize and honor the city’s veterans and active service members by designing, printing and installing banners of each participating member with a photograph and their branch of service to be hung along Foothill Boulevard.
“My previous Air Force assignment was at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley, California,” Bowman told the Outlook Valley Sun. “They have a similar program, so each year I saw the banners of their residents, and it inspired me to honor our service members and veterans the same way.”
He soon contacted Puglia to help organize the program and do some community outreach.
With no net impact on the city’s budget, the program will cost approximately $10,200 if they achieve their goal of highlighting 50 veterans and service members. Applicants are not required to pay a fee for the banner.
Last year, Puglia held a small celebration with some community members in front of City Hall on Veterans Day. This is when someone mentioned a similar banner idea to Puglia, and she took it to the city to see if something was possible.
“I think it’s a phenomenal idea,” Puglia told the Outlook Valley Sun.
She said she doesn’t think raising enough money for the banners will be a problem since she already knows some community members who are already interested.
“I’ve already had several people contact me to sponsor and I just said to them, ‘let’s just wait to see what the city’s structure and protocols are, and then we can move forward,’” she said.
This kind of involvement within the program is also important to Puglia since she currently has two godsons in the Navy.
“But I think honoring our veterans and honoring active military personnel is extremely important, because they do so much without even really any of us knowing,” Puglia said. “Without even us really seeing on a day-to-day basis what’s happening or what our military personnel does.”
“It’s just extremely important to be aware that we have several people in our community, young people who serve, and who do so much for us,” she added.
Now, she is excited to make connections with the community and support the city in what protocols they come up with.
“So, I think it’s important that we just support, and I’ll just try and do my best to see if I can encourage people to be supportive of the program,” said Puglia.
The goal is to have the program be a yearly tradition within the city, where the banners can be put up before every Veterans Day on Nov. 11.
“I’m just excited that it’s part of the city, and it’ll be sustained,” she said. “To me, that’s what’s most exciting. It’s a sustainable opportunity.”
The program went live on Tuesday on the city’s website for individuals interested in applying for themselves or a family member. Requirements for the program include current U.S. military personnel and veterans, either living or deceased. They must also be a current LCF resident or have an immediate family member who resides in the city.
“Honorees must have lived in La Cañada Flintridge at some point prior to entering military,” reads the city’s website.
The applications are now open until Oct. 20 at 4:30 p.m. to submit online, in-person or by email to the Public Safety Coordinator, Jennifer Burghdorf, at jburghdorf@lcf.ca.gov.
Arabo Parseghian, director of administrative services for the city, told the Outlook Valley Sun that they are planning to have the banners up in early November and they will be displayed until the end of the month.
After the banners come down, the city will keep them to display in future years. The banners will include an official military portrait or picture of the honoree in uniform, the honoree’s name and rank and the service of branch.
For more information on the program or to apply, visit cityoflcf.org/hometown-heroes-program/.
First published in the October 12 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
