be held

This event, designed to showcase handmade artistic items, promises to be a fantastic shopping experience… offering all those specialty items you love. Many residents and representatives from the Clark County Artisan's Guild, the Beader's Guild and other groups are expected to participate in this popular event.

Shop for hand-crafted, unique items such as artwork, baskets, ceramics, pottery, fused glass items, quilted and knitted items, sewing crafts, beading, one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces, needlework and crocheted items, candles, woodworking products, greeting cards, holiday items, and more.

The show will be held in the Sun City Aliante Community Center located at 7394 Aliante Parkway, North Las Vegas (at the intersection of Aliante Pkwy and Elkhorn, across from Aliante Casino & Hotel).

Admission is Free. The general public is also invited to enjoy the fun, shop and get some great gift ideas for the upcoming holidays.

The Sun City Aliante Seniors with Warm Hearts will sponsor a raffle to benefit S.A.F.E. House, a charity for at-risk children and their mothers. Every vendor is required to donate a hand-made craft item for each day's raffle to benefit the charity

For more information, please contact Elaine Goddard or Lori Daniels at 702-638-5000.

HONOR FLIGHT NETWORK - A PROGRAM HONORING AMERICA'S VETERANS

Resident Ray Wong Shares His Experience with Honor Flight

By Trish Williamson

Sun City Aliante resident Ray Wong recently participated in the Honor Flight Program. “I don't remember how I heard of the Honor Flight, but they were taking WWII and Korean war veterans to Washington D.C. when I applied to the program. I assumed I would have a long wait because I was a Vietnam veteran with a 'W' last name and would be positioned somewhere at the bottom of the 'totem pole.' It took only two years to be called. This Honor Flight is more than well worth the wait time for the journey.”

T h e S o u t h e r n N e v a d a H o n o r F l i g h t F o u n d a t i o n i s a n o n p r o fi t organization founded in June 2013 to honor American Veterans for ALL their sacrifices. Their mission is to bring war veterans to our nation's capital, Washington D.C., and escort them to war memorials which are dedicated to the sacrifices they have made for our freedom. They visit eight war memorials and the Arlington Cemetery observing the laying of the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ceremony. There is no cost to veterans.

The Southern Nevada Honor Flight is an affiliate of the National Honor Flight Network, which began in 2005 in Dayton, Ohio. There are now 40 “hubs” around the country They have no paid staff. Their volunteers coordinate fundraising, communication and travel arrangements and meals for the honorees.

“Honor Flight is an impressive program. Our trip was sponsored by America First Credit Union, which hosted our 25 veterans (25) and one guardian per veteran. They came from every corner of America to visit the War memorials of Washington D.C.,” exclaimed Ray. “We crossed paths with two other Honor Flights from Cleveland and Rhode Island, while touring the monuments. It was impressive to witness Veterans of all services displaying comradery in greeting each other with 'high fives' and handshakes as we intersected.”

Ray advises every eligible veteran to apply for this program. “If you are a military War Veteran, I highly encourage you to do this Honor Flight trip to visit the War memorials of Washington D.C. It is a very touching, inspiring and somber experience,” said Ray

They had police escorts and were greeted as VIPs by the public everywhere they went, including a water salute (airplane wash) by the local Fire Department as their plane taxied from the runway to the terminal at Baltimore Washington (BWI) and Las Angeles airports, Ray said, “My goal on this trip was not to find anyone I knew on the Vietnam wall but found my cousin whom I researched before this trip,” Ray explained. “I wanted to send a photo of his name to his brother and sister, and my high school classmate's relative who was the first Hawaiian killed at the beginning of the Vietnam War.”

Ray has been using a walker while recovering from a heath issue. “When I asked an Honor Flight if I could bring my walker with me, they assured me that they would have a wheelchair for us,” said Ray. “They told me that there is a lot of walking involved when visiting the memorials, and they arranged to have a guardian accompany each veteran during the trip. I am grateful they assigned us a guardian.”

He continued to discuss how much his Guardian helped him. “I wanted to do some walking exercise to recover from stenosis and was using my wheelchair as a stroller walker,” Ray noted. “I had one speed, slow and generated a crowd behind me; then my guardian, Steve, told me to get into the wheelchair to catch up with the normal pacing tour,” he laughingly said. “He caught up with the tour in a hurry by fast-paced walking. Everyone began cheering and applauding as we approached our normal paced Honor Flight.’

According to Ray, “The best way to learn of the Honor Flight is to visit the website HonorFlightSouthernNevada.or g and submit an online application. Someone will contact you for an interview prior to the Honor Flight date. “They told us there is a long wait list he said. “However, they claim that list moves faster than one might think, so that should not discourage anyone from applying. All veterans should have this inspiring experience.”