Riverside military appreciation game is slated for Friday

The annual Riverside Rebel football appreciation game is this Friday.  The middle school game starts at noon, followed by the varsity game at 2 p.m. 

Veterans and their families are encouraged to attend. The public is asked to wear red, white and blue. Veterans will be asked to stand and be recognized during halftime. 

At the start of the varsity game the players will enter the field with flags representing each of the branches of the United States military —Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Space Force — along with the American and Wyoming flags. The military flags are provided by Greybull American Legion Post 32. There will also be a chair on the sideline with a MIA/POW flag. 

Basin’s American Legion Post 29 will present the colors prior to the coin toss of the varsity game. The coin is a Veteran’s Challenge coin provided by Wyoming Veteran’s Commissioner Bobby Werner. Merrita Powell will sing the National Anthem. 

The American Legion Auxiliary Unit 29 table at the game will have poppies. Red poppies represent the blood shed by service members in World War I, inspired by the famous poem “In Flanders Fields.” 

A Veteran ornament table sponsored by the Basin City Arts Center will provide ornaments for people to write the names of veterans and their branch of service. The ornaments will be displayed, along with the ornaments from previous years, on a Christmas tree at the Arts Center’s Festival of Trees in November. 

Principal and Coach Matthew Jensen said he is pleased that the appreciation game has grown each year. He added it is important for the students and community be a part of an event that honors our veterans and their families. 

The school will host a Veterans Day program on Nov. 11.