Northwoods Honor Flight benefit looks to educate veterans, the public

By now most have heard of the Honor Flight. However, organizers of the Northwoods Honor Flight benefit, Cynthia and Jeff Devor, said, many veterans have still not taken that flight. There are a number of reasons for that, but the Devors said the hope with this event was to encourage more veterans to make that trip. The benefit was held last month at Cabaret Cove in Rhinelander.

The Devors started coming to the event about three years ago. Last year, former organizer Daw Panzer came to the couple to ask them to take over the benefit for them. Jeff Devor said he asked Panzer at the time what would happen if they did not take it over and Panzer had indicated the event might simply cease to exist. It was then that the couple, feeling a debt of gratitude to our veterans, decided they would start to plan this year’s event.

Cynthia Devor said they wanted to focus on educating the general public about veterans and their service to this country. They also wanted to educate veterans who had not yet taken the Never Forgotten Honor Flight about the trip and what it has meant to other area veterans. A 10-minute educational presentation ran in  a loop through the lunch hour during the event and then two area veterans took to the stage to talk about the flight, including their feelings prior to the flight as well as their experience in Washington D.C. and their experience coming home.

“That is what the public has shared with us,” she said. “They want to know more about the Never Forgotten Honor Flight, and by having those that have flown share their stories, we’re hoping to get the vets that don’t want to fly to consider changing their minds.” That also brought out the educational aspect of the event, Devor said. 

The event was also made more family-friendly this. There were several games for kids set up and a Plinko game for adults and kids.

Jeff Devor said they also created a website for the Northwoods Never Forgotten Honor Flight where people could donate. That, he said, gave organizers more reach throughout the state. The Devors also leaned on are businesses with whom they had relationships in their personal lives, who also donated. The Facebook page for the event received over 21,000 hits in the 28 days prior to the event, he said. 

This benefit event is always held on the fourth Saturday in July, Devors said. There is also a golf outing benefit on August 30 at the Rhinelander Country Club and an ATV/UTV poker run on September 20 this year. More information about the Northwoods Never Forgotten Honor Flight benefit can be found on Facebook by searching “Northwoods Honor Flight” and clicking on the link to the benefit’s new page.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].