Winners were announced in the annual Patriot’s Pen essay writing competition at the Brainerd Veterans of Foreign Wars.
ADVERTISEMENT
The theme was “What is Patriotism to me?” The competition Taking first place with $300 was Alex Lelwica, St. Francis of the Lakes Catholic School eighth grader. Second place was Elizabeth Sarvie of Brainerd, winning $200. Third place was Margaret Ringhand of Ironton. She won $100.
Lelwica wrote: “Patriotism to me is being proud to be a part of a country. For example, I'm proud to live in The United States of America where we get to choose who leads us and where we get to live freely.”
In her essay Sarvie wrote: “Patriotism means you love and honor your country so much that you are willing to sacrifice things for it. Patriotism means that you love your country so much that if you were called to go and defend your country in war, you would be willing to do it. It is thanking and honoring our veterans for all they have done for us.”
Ringhand wrote: “Veterans should be respected because of all that they have done for our country. Even if they weren’t on the front lines fighting, they were doing important work to help our country remain strong and flourishing.”
Winners move on to district, state and national competitions and share in $55,000 scholarship money from the local and national VFW. More details and the full essays can be found at BrainerdVFW.org .
