By PAULENE POPARAD

“We’ll probably be selling cookies to the stewardesses on the plane,” said Laurie Mullet with a laugh.

Each Saturday at Fifth Third Bank at 302 Broadway in downtown Chesterton, volunteers are selling patriotic-packaged cookies from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. to raise the money needed to send 22 area veterans --- average age 85 --- to Washington D.C.

The Oct. 4-8 Tour of Duty trip will honor a vanishing generation who gave their youth to ensure a safer world for the youth of today. The travel group also includes invited guests to assist the veterans and share their experiences, and community and staff volunteers.

The reason for the trip, which is being organized by the Pines Village Retirement Communities, is to take their veterans to the memorials honoring World War II, the Korean War, and Viet Nam as well as other capital sites. There might even be a private tour of the White House.

Mullet is Pines Village CEO and according to the non-profit group’s resident services director, Tracy Huyvaert, the Tour of Duty trip was Mullet’s idea. Both women are Chesterton High School graduates.

Mullet said she was inspired by a PBS video “Vanishing Voices” that paid tribute to the nation’s oldest veterans. After learning last year how a Michigan retirement community organized its Washington trip, Pines Village began planning theirs.

“From the time we started talking about it, we’ve lost five veterans,” said Mullet. “In the next five to 10 years, this generation will be gone.”

The daughter of a World War II veteran and the mother of a son who fought in the Iraq war, Mullet said when she proposed the Tour of Duty trip, “Our veterans resoundingly said they want to go. They see this as an obligation and duty to go there, whatever the sacrifices, to honor those who went before them.”

Often referred to as “The Greatest Generation,” Mullet said many World War II veterans don’t consider themselves heroes and really didn’t talk about their war experiences. “Everyone was in the same boat. Now with age, they share their experiences more.” She noted that organizers of the Michigan trip found, “A lot of emotions that were repressed for 60 years came out.”

The Tour of Duty will be a quality trip, not a power trip, because of the special needs of many of those traveling. Medical support staff and equipment will accompany the veterans.

It’s one thing to transport a large group around here, but quite another in our busy nation’s capital, said Mullet. Handicapped-accessible buses, wheel chairs and motorized individual scooters will be provided. The four-day cost of scooter rental alone is $650.

The largest single expense of the trip’s $115,000 total cost is the chartered plane. Mullet said they are departing from the Gary/Chicago Airport. “They have been wonderful to us.” The group will fly into a private gate at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, approximately 26 miles from downtown Washington.

As of this week donations and Tour of Duty fundraisers around Porter County have raised $75,000 of the $115,000 goal. “We had a large donation last week and we really feel now we can do this,” said Mullet.

The local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2511 in Porter made a contribution and has been very supportive, she added, and Sept. 29 the Chesterton Moose Lodge at 602 Broadway will host the Tour of Duty Last Hoorah.

That event will feature five live bands and take place from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets are available at Elizabeth’s Fashions in Chesterton and at Pines Village in Valparaiso. The cost is $15 per couple, $10 per person, and $5 per child age 10 and over. Food and beverage will be available for an additional fee. Volunteers are needed to help staff the event, which is open to the public.

Those wishing to make a tax-deductible contribution payable to “Tour of Duty” can find a link under that name at www.pinesvillage.org or the donation may be mailed directly to Pines Village at 3303 Pines Village Circle, Valparaiso, IN 46383. Every dollar raised will go directly to support the trip.

Donations may be made in honor of or as a memorial to any veteran; their names will be read at Arlington National Cemetery during the group’s visit there.

Other upcoming fundraisers include Sept. 7 and 8 at the Porter County Fairgrounds Kiwanis Hot Air Balloon Fest, the Valparaiso Popcorn Festival Sept. 8, and a dinner/dance Sept. 15 at the Wanatah American Legion.

Back to those cookies. Volunteers have been baking and selling them at several locations throughout the summer. “One week we baked 7,000 cookies,” said Mullet. “People love the cookies --- and the project.”

Posted 8/31/2007