Student's Yellow Ribbon

Student's Yellow Ribbon display in Somerville pays holiday tribute to U.S. troops overseas

SOMERVILLE - Somerville’s store fronts and street lamps are draped with bright reds and greens in celebration of the holiday season, with a broad a swath of yellow ribbons along Main Street providing a patriotic contrast to the traditional holiday colors. The stirring tribute to local servicemen and women stretches along a fence in front of the former Somerville Shopping Center on West Main Street, across from Lloyd’s Furniture and Mannion’s Pub & Restaurant.

The “Ribbons for Heroes” community project, sponsored by the Somerville District Management Corporation and Operation Shoebox New Jersey, honors the sacrifices made by U.S. troops who are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, far from home, family and friends during the holiday season, according to Verve Restaurant owner Rick St. Pierre, who coordinated the project with local schools.

Students from Immaculata High School, Somerville Public Schools, Rutgers Preparatory School, Middle Earth and the Somerset County Educational Services Commission were invited to participate

in the project, writing letters of support to hundreds of military personnel who continue to receive personal care packages from Operation Shoebox New Jersey, a member of the Somerville Business & Professional Association.

Each of the letters was written on weatherproof, poster-size cards decorated with yellow ribbons and the American flag.
Several volunteers including St. Pierre, JoAnn Lindenstruth, John Hadley, Helene Venizelos, and students, hung the posters Dec. 12 and were joined by Somerville Mayor Brian Gallagher; the display of letters h stretches for several hundred feet along West Main Street.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to show our troops that Somerville is a community that understands all it is that our armed forces do for us." Gallagher said. "During the holiday season it is very important that these brave men and women, who are away from their own families, understand that we recognize they are protecting ours and that we do not take their commitment for granted. They are in our thoughts, prayers and actions and we wish all of them a safe return." Gallagher said.

The letters will remain on display through New Year’s, after which they will be removed and inserted into the personal care packages that will be shipped overseas by Operation Shoebox New Jersey.