By Kyle Coppola
Clermont Continues Tradition Of Celebrating Veterans
CLERMONT (Nov. 6, 2023) The tradition of celebrating the men and women who served in the United States armed forces will continue in Clermont on Saturday, Nov. 11 with a parade and a special program at Waterfront Park.
The parade will begin at 9 a.m. and travel down Osceola Street to Waterfront Park where the celebration will continue with a special program at the Clermont’s Highlander Pavilion.
Highly decorated, 30-year United States Marine Corps. Sgt. Major Collin Cotterell will share his thoughts and experiences as the keynote speaker. The program will also recognize local outstanding veterans Lt. Daniel Keel and Master Sgt. Frank Klum and present “Quilts of Valor” which represent “selfless service and sacrifice in defense of our nation”.
(WWII Veteran Frank Klum will be in at the Parade.)
The purpose of the Veteran’s Day tribute is to honor the men and women who have served our nation to ensure our ongoing freedom and security, explained Robert Mock, CTMCM (SS), USN, Retired and a member of the South Lake Florida Base – SubVets.
(Daniel Keel is a former Tuskeegee Airman and will be there.)
November 11 is designated to celebrate Veterans because the armistice that ended World War I took effect on the “
The South Lake Florida Base, USSVI, Inc. (SubVets) joined forces with the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 5277, the American Legion Post 55, the Clermont Sea Cadets Battalion, the Navy South East Band and the City of Clermont to organize and deliver the program, complete with a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps.
The Daughters of the American Revolution will be accepting monetary gifts and personal items for Operation Shoebox and the Marine Corps League will be accepting donations of new, unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots.
For more event details, contact Robert Mock (352-536-9964) or Robert Farrell (352-250- 2052).
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
