Knights raise big bucks for Honor Flight

By Brandi Makuski

A $4,000 check from the Knights of Columbus helps secure seats for several more veterans on future Honor Flights.

The Knights #1170 on Oct. 11 presented the check to James Campbell from Never Forgotten Honor Flight. Campbell has represented Honor Flight in 13 Wisconsin counties since its inception 14 years ago.

Knights raised the money during a fundraising brat fry held earlier this year. Gary Oudenhoven said the group had a goal of $10,000, but the event nearly rained out during a thunderstorm.

“But it was a fun event, and we still had a lot of people come out,” he said.

Honor Flight flies veterans who served in any capacity of the United States Armed Forces before May 1975. Veterans fly free of charge from the Mosinee airport to Washington, D.C., for a day of sightseeing at national monuments and military memorials built in their honor.

When they return to Mosinee after a long and emotional day, the group is given a hero’s welcome by hundreds gathered at the airport.

“This town has been incredible,” Campbell told the Knights.

Campbell also recalled the first major fundraiser for the Honor Flight in the Stevens Point area. It all began with a phone call from then-Police Chief Kevin Ruder.

“Kevin called me and said, ‘We’re going to do this softball game for the Honor Flight; how many veterans are on the waiting list in Stevens Point?’ I told him 39. He said, ‘That’s about $19,000?’ I said, ‘That’s correct.’ He said, ‘That’s my goal,'” Campbell said. “Three days after that phone call, he called me and said, ‘I got the $19,000 already.’ I said, ‘What?‘”

On the day of the first Guns N’ Hoses softball game in the summer of 2014, Campbell said he had no idea how much the group had raised.

“They turned that check around at the presentation, and until this year, it was the single largest donation from a fundraiser in 14 years — $44,000. One softball game in Stevens Point. Pretty awesome,” he said, adding that only in 2023 had that amount been surpassed, and by a recent golf outing.

With the Knights’ donation in hand, Honor Flight has now taken nearly 4,400 Central Wisconsin veterans on 46 flights to the nation’s capital, Campbell said.

The Knights of Columbus Clubhouse is located at 401 W. Clark St. on the west side of the Clark St. bridge.