To start the month of December off we wanted to announce something new and exciting created by our Platt College library staff and our head librarian, Nicole Lewis. Calliope is our new quarterly newsletter featuring stories, poetry, news, health tips and much more written by our own students and staff. You can download the first edition of it HERE.
We also wanted to share a great article from this quarter’s Calliope written by our very own Vice President, Al Medro.
A Hershey’s for Our Heroes
By: Al Medro
For the past two or three years my mother, who is almost ninety-three years old, has enjoyed honoring the veterans of our college on Veteran’s Day. On several occasions, she packaged red, white and blue jelly beans and tied them with red, white and blue ribbons so that I could give them to our veterans on Veteran’s Day. My mother also describes the gist of what she wanted me to say as I presented the jelly beans to each veteran. Although her precise words change slightly every year, her message to our veterans is that this gift is a small token of great respect.
This year (Veteran’s Day 2015), my mother wanted to do something different. She explained that she wanted to give the veterans Hershey’s bars instead of red, white and blue jelly beans. Her reason was clear. She explained that red, white and blue jelly beans only have the color of the American flag to make them an appropriate token for our veterans. She explained that HERSHEY’S MILK CHOCOLATE bars are more appropriate. They are truly American and they have history with the United States Military because they were part of the rations in World War II.
My mother also suggested that we wrap the bar with red, white and blue paper so that all but the first two letters of the word HERSHEY’s were covered. Chocolate bars wrapped this way would have the letters “HE” showing and these should be given to our male veterans. Others should be wrapped so that all but the first three letters were covered. The letters “HER” would be showing and these should be given to our female veterans.
We at Platt College San Diego very much enjoyed being with our veterans on Veteran’s Day. I very much enjoyed expressing our appreciation for their service on behalf of our college. I was delighted to present them with HERSHEY’S MILK CHOCOLATE bars and to share my mother’s explanation for why they are a more appropriate token of great respect. We all savored the grilled hot dogs and cherished the courtyard activities we had in honor of our veterans on Veteran’s Day.
In Conclusion here is a message from Calliope’s Editor in Chief:
Greetings……
The Platt College-San Diego Library is dedicated to promoting an inspiring atmosphere that meets our student’s informational needs and promotes cultural awareness. The library contains appropriate learning and research materials, as well as books and magazines on many subjects and interests. We engage our community with art shows at local libraries and art spaces; monthly-themed exhibitions around campus; and our newsletter as your muse and your news!
By Nicole Lewis, Platt College San Diego,
Editor in Chief | Head Librarian | Instructor