OXNARD : Flags and Ceremony Will Honor Veterans

A highway of flags will line the beach, children will throw flowers into the ocean and military planes will fly overhead as the Channel Islands beach community commemorates Veterans Day two days early on Thursday.

“It’s overwhelming and it’s one of the most heartwarming things I’ve ever seen,” said Brandy Dinovitz, who is organizing a program for the Hollywood Beach School and surrounding communities. “Years ago they used to do a thing where they would take the kids across the street and have a little ceremony. But they haven’t done that in years.”

Dinovitz said community support has turned a planned small ceremony into an extravaganza, complete with a floating armada and the presentation of an American flag that once flew over the White House to the small, beachside school.

The project is a personal one for Dinovitz, who has two children in the school and comes from a military family.

“We’ve had people serving in the military as far back as the Civil War. I know what Veterans Day meant to us,” she said. “It meant remembering my uncles and aunts who fell in the service and thinking of the times my dad was in jeopardy.

“I didn’t want the kids to think this is just another holiday,” she added.

The ceremony will begin just before 1 p.m. Thursday at Hollywood Beach School, 4000 Sunset Lane, with a welcome from the school’s principal and a recitation of a traditional Chumash Indian blessing.

Retired Senior Chief Petty Officer James J. Bennett, U.S. Navy, will address the significance of being a veteran and serving the country. The ceremony will conclude at the beach.

For more information, contact Dinovitz at 382-9633.