Middleport putting up 95 banners to recognize local soldiers

Staff Reports Posted 18 May 2021 at 10:21 am

Provided photo: Christa Lutz, Middleport Village Historian, shows one of the 95 street banners that will be installed throughout the village as part of the Middleport Hometown Heroes Project honoring current and past Middleport residents who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. This banner honors past Middleport Mayor and Postmaster William J. Holahan, who served in the Pacific Theater in World War II.

MIDDLEPORT – The village is displaying 95 banners through Veterans Day (Nov. 11) to honor living and deceased Armed Forces veterans through its Middleport Hometown Heroes Project.

The banners include a portrait of the soldier, military branch and years of service. Out of the 95 banners, 49 are new this year and there are already orders for four new banners in 2022, said Christa Lutz, Village Historian.

FMC Corporation’s Agricultural Sciences Plant in Middleport approved a Community Mini-Grant to the Middleport Village Historian to support the effort.

Middleport also prints a yearly booklet with biographical information on each Middleport Hometown Hero – ranging from World War I veterans to those who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

“The Middleport Hometown Heroes Project has been so worthwhile and rewarding, and could never be possible without the help of organizations like FMC,” Lutz said. “This mini-grant is definitely a step toward continuing this project.”

The “FMC & You: Community Mini-Grants Program” awards individual grants of up to $250 per request from organizations, groups and projects in the towns of Royalton and Hartland that support one or more of FMC’s four primary philanthropic areas of Health and Human Services, Education and Science, Environment and Conservation, and Arts and Culture.

Grant applications are available at www.FMC-Middleport.com or by mailing, emailing or calling Jessica Heideman at the FMC Community Office at 8 S. Vernon St., Middleport, NY 14105, Jessica.Heideman@fmc.com and 716-735-9769. Deadline for monthly submissions is the last day of the month.