A red cardinal was special guest at the Veterans’ Home Memorial Day Celebration 

QUINCY — The Illinois Veterans Home at Quincy put on a Memorial Day celebration Friday afternoon in Lippincott Hall, complete with speeches, live music, and a lunch for the veterans and their families.

Throughout the celebration, a bright red cardinal flew overhead, accidentally trapped in the building.

“They say a cardinal is a remembrance of someone you love who has passed on,” said Director of Marketing Valerie Peterson, who emceed the event. “So how fitting. He wasn’t a planned part of our program today, but I think it’s kind of cool.”

Barry Cheyne, United States Air Force veteran and chairman of the Quincy Fire and Police Commission, delivered the keynote address. He spoke to the strength of the U.S. military, those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and the history of Memorial Day.

Live music was provided by the husband and wife duo Matt & Hannah Bordenkircher, who played patriotic songs such as “America the Beautiful,” asking the audience to join in during “God Bless America.” Betty Balzer laid a memorial wreath, and the American Legion Post 37 Honor Guard performed a rifle salute.

Volunteers and employees passed out hot lunches to the veterans and their families after the presentation.

The campus of the home looked beautiful, partially thanks to an upgrade.

“It was particularly heartwarming to see the transformation of this campus,” Cheyne said. “God bless those in leadership positions who made the Veterans Home a nice place to be and a nice place to live and honor the great value of our country.”

The $300 million upgrade to the complex is part of the statewide Rebuild Illinois project. The Illinois Veterans Home at Quincy has 210 acres and was dedicated in 1886, making it the largest and oldest vet home in Illinois. Today, around 450 people live there.

Veteran Dan Frese and his wife Barb Frese do not live at the home but try to attend the Memorial Day program each year. Dan served in the Navy in Vietnam, assigned to the Ninth Infantry in the Mekong Delta, moving troops and securing waterways.

When asked why they attended, they both got emotional.

“I’m here to remember my friends who died in service, especially my brother Mike, who died in Vietnam,” Dan said. “I was lucky enough that I served there, but I survived. They need to be remembered, and that’s why I come.”