WORTHINGTON -- When people finish work Friday afternoon, they'll have a chance to honor Americans who served their country while enjoying the outdoors and the start of a holiday weekend.
Honor Flight Southwest Minnesota will host a fundraiser Friday at Centennial Park, with a beer garden scheduled to open at 4 and a food stand at 5 p.m. The locally based band Sideline is slated to perform from 6 to 10 p.m.; beer and food will be available until 11 p.m.
"We had approached Sideline member Paul Larson and asked him if they'd be interested in doing a fundraiser sometime this summer," said Mike Kuhle, an Honor Flight Southwest Minnesota Committee member. "We finally settled on a date, and Sideline was very gracious. It's just a big, big thing for them to be donating their time."
JBS has donated pork for the event, and all food and drink (besides beer) will be available for free-will donations.
"We'll make money off the food donations and also off the beer," Kuhle said. "This is a great kickoff to the Fourth of July weekend, and we're going to honor our World War II veterans."
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Money raised from Friday's fundraiser will help pay for a second Honor Flight -- the first took place April 30-May 1 -- to Washington, D.C. The next flight is scheduled for Oct. 1-2.
"About 110 veterans go on this flight," Kuhle said, "and there are another 52 guardians, and the guardians pay for themselves."
"There's also a medical team that goes along ... and I believe the total cost is in the $130,000, $140,000 range. Veterans don't pay a dime."
Kuhle noted that Rock County plans to have its own fundraiser in Luverne sometime in August, with a different band set to perform.
"We just thought we'd do one here in Worthington as a way to raise some funds," he said. "Nobles County has been generous in supporting this fundraising over the last seven months."
