SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – The Fairmount Community Library rests within a small suburban neighborhood just outside of the Syracuse City limits.
It’s a small building, for sure, but it provides a great service for many of the families living within the Fairmount neighborhood.
Here, local parents take their kids in to enjoy some of the engagement programs the library has to offer. These programs include a weekly arts and crafts session, where kids make their own collages and sculptures, and reading days, where library staff members hold a storytime session for kids to sit down and listen.
But now, the library has started a whole new program that’s only available in November; one that even local parents and grandparents can participate in.
The library has constructed a “Veteran’s Photo Wall of Fame” on the second floor of the building, nestled in between the “sports literature” and “non-fiction novels” sections.
The wall itself isn’t really that big, only about eight-to-nine feet tall and no wider than a small car.
However, the size of the wall isn’t what matters.
What matters is every single photo that’s posted on it. Each picture represents the contributions that these men and women provided for their country, the sacrifices the had to make in order to serve.
John Rittell, the library’s director, is a brevet master sergeant of the U.S. Air Force, retiring in 2001 after 35 years of service.
Despite not seeing any action during his time in the Military, Rittell still holds a large amount of respect and admiration for military personnel. So much so, the wall was his idea.
“Well, I got to thinking about the fact that we have veterans in all phases of life,” Rittell told NCC News. “What has preserved this country and made it great is the fact that we have veterans we can depend upon.”
The wall is set to stay up all month long. Rittell says they’ll be taking contributions to it all month long. No word as to what will happen once they run out of wall to fill.
