Rigonomics:

We have many things to be proud of here in this part of the county. But we can be especially proud of the tributes given to our fighting men and women by our local schools celebrating Veterans Day.

One such tribute was mentioned in this paper this week — Medal of Honor recipient Walter D. Ehlers came to Mariners Christian School in Costa Mesa to speak and be honored with the rest of the veterans.

Another school-sponsored Veterans Day event that I attended was at St. John’s the Baptist Catholic School. St John’s is celebrating their 50th year of providing Catholic Education to Orange County families.

The crowd of more than 900 people included our own local elected officials: Councilwoman Katrina Foley and Mayor Allan Mansoor. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher was also present.

The event is reportedly the largest such school-sponsored Veterans Day event in the county. The students, one grade at a time, came on stage to sing a patriotic song to the military veterans who were present.

Watching a class of second-graders finish their song with a salute and thank you to the retired veterans brought a sense of pride and appreciation, to say the least.

The special keynote speaker was retired Air Force Col. Kenneth Hughey. A veteran of the Vietnam War, Hughey piloted 564 missions. One hundred and six of those missions were over North Vietnam.

On July 6, 1967, he was shot down and spent the next five and half years as a prisoner of war. His treatment was so bad that if he had the means, he said he would have taken his own life instead of enduring the daily beatings and torture.

He told the audience of parents, veterans and students how he managed to get though those years of torture. One of the two things he did every day before he slept was to stand, face east and recite the Pledge of Allegiance — the other was to recite the 23rd Psalm.

If there ever were a teachable moment, this was it. God, family and country.

The culmination of the event was the singing by St. John’s award-winning Clover Choir headed up by Musical Director Yvette Itano. Their closing song was the military tribute “Homeward Bound” song in a cappella style. After the song, the fifth-graders walked into the audience and handed a single carnation to every veteran. If there was a dry eye in the house I could not see it through my blurred vision.

On another note, reminder that tonight is the Texas Hold’em tournament fundraiser benefiting local youth programs. Sponsored by the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, CM900 and Costa Mesa United. Event Chairman Jim Huffman expects a great turnout. It is at these type of events where you see the people who make up the fabric of this community coming out to help our kids.

Hors d’oeuvres are being supplied by none other than John and Fran Ursini’s Newport Rib Co. The Ursinis are a fixture in this community and never seem to say no whenever they are asked to help a good community-based cause.

The event is being hosted by Mesa Verde resident Kevin Coleman at his company, Net Development’s private event facility at 3130 Airway in Costa Mesa.

It starts at 5:30 tonight. Buy-in is $100, and the money is going to a good cause.

The first five people that come up to me and say they read this column I will buy a drink — unless their last name is Mensinger.

JIM RIGHEIMER is a Costa Mesa Planning Commissioner, local business owner and a father of four. He can be reached at jim@rigonomics.com.