Salute to Veterans to be held at Rhythm in Motion Dance Studio
The Cape Coral USA Dance Chapter will hold a special benefit for the Korean War Veterans chapter this weekend.
The Salute to Veterans will be held from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at Rhythm in Motion Dance Studio.
It is $10 for USA Dance members and $15 for the general public to attend the performance. Tickets can be purchased at the door.
USA Dance Chapter No. 6123 Cape Coral Chapter President Carol Davis said they have invited the Cape Coral Korean War chapter to come and spend an evening with them.
“We have some performers that do the shag and jitter bug. We want to entertain them a little and give them an evening of fun. The entertainment will be our dancers, some professional dancers, and some students will do some dances,” she said. “We will be taking donations for them.”
Davis said all of their members will wear red, white and blue during the performance.
The new Cape Coral USA Dance chapter was established a year ago. Each month they hold an event for a different charity. With November being a “veterans month,” Davis said they wanted to give back to veterans this month.
“We really want to recognize our Korean and World War II people. They are really getting up there in age. We want to give them respect. This is what we want to be able to do on a Saturday night,” she said.
Korean War Veterans Chapter 155 President Robert Kent said they formed in 1997 with as many as 120 members, which has dwindled to 65 active members.
He said the Salute to Veterans event will help them fund their scholarships, which are given to three local colleges to help fellow veterans.
Kent said they began a scholarship a little more than a decade ago at Florida SouthWestern State College with $1,000 scholarship. He said they formed an endowment, which is now worth $37,000.
“We thought it was important to get an endowment started and hopefully get it to a better number than what it is now,” Kent said.
There are also scholarships available at the technical college in Cape Coral and Fort Myers of $500 a year.
The scholarship is given to a veteran, or their child, or grandchild of a veteran of Southwest Florida.
In addition to the scholarship fund, Kent said they are also active in Wreaths Across America, as well as sponsoring a veteran family locally around Christmas time. In addition, the chapter also put in the monument at Eco Park, and recently paid for one of the bus stop benches in Cape Coral.
“We try to stay active with the community,” he said.
Rhythm in Motion Dance Studio is at 912 Del Prado Blvd. S.