Honor Flight of Northwest Ohio will be the recipient of nearly $1,500 as a result of a benefit dance held Saturday night at the Findlay Senior Center.
Night Jazz, a 21-piece Findlay area swing band, played three sets over three hours before a crowd of about 200 people at the event.
Blufftonite Alisa Diller plays trombone for the band and was featured on several solos throughout the night including her take on Tommy Dorsey's theme song "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You."
Other local members of the band are Ted and Matt Green of Mt. Cory. Former Findlay big band radio host and Bluffton native John Marshall served as Master of Ceremonies for the event.
Night Jazz cooperated with the AMVETS #21, the Senior Center, and numerous other businesses and veterans organizations to put on the fifth annual benefit.
Honor Flight of Northwest Ohio is an affiliate of the Honor Flight Network TM, whose mission is to send veterans to Washington, D.C. to see the war memorials.
Since its founding in 2007, Honor Flight NOW has made 25 flights carrying 1082 veterans on this one-day excursion, free of charge. The next Honor Flight trip will be Wednesday, Aug. 29, leaving and returning from the Grand Aire Hangar one mile west of Toledo Express main terminal. Those interested in seeing the flight off or welcoming them home can get details on security and the schedule at www.HonorFlightNWO.org.
The site also includes information on how to have a veteran apply to be included on a flight, and how to donate or volunteer.
The Honor Flight Network, with which Honor Flight NWO is affiliated, had, through 2011, sent 81,000 veterans from across the country to Washington, all free of charge. The national organization does warn that there are businesses with similar names that charge for such flights, but that the Honro Flight Network mission provides these trips entirely free of charge for veterans. The honor Flight Network TM and Honor Flight NWO are 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations.