'Hero's Highway' — Putnam Veterans’ Anthology

BREWSTER, NY — On Veteran’s Day, the Arts on the Lake Writers Group hosted its annual reading in Kent. Members of the group gathered to take in an array of writing genres from their peers, including memoirs, poetry, novel excerpts and more.

This year, the event happened to coincide with Veterans Day. In honor of the sacrifices of the nation’s brave military men and women who serve, the group invited Karl Rohde, also a writer, and the Director of Putnam County’s Veterans Service Agency, to participate.

“We could not have been happier to have Karl participate in such a meaningful way at our event,” said group leader, Tom Kersting, in a press release. “Karl helped us honor those in service to our country and by sharing several poems that he wrote while serving in Vietnam, he enabled attendees to connect with that experience.”

Rohde’s poetry is part of a Putnam veterans’ anthology of artistic expression that was recently published under the title of Hero’s Highway. According to John Bourges, the coordinator for the PFC Joseph P Dwyer Vet 2 Vet Outreach Program of Putnam County, the book was created as a project for the program. It contains stories, photographs and artwork from local veterans.

“Our Veterans Outreach Studio meets on the first Wednesday of every month in Patterson to explore veterans’ creativity and artistic talents," Bourges said. "The catalyst for creating the book was to share the unique art and creativity coming out of these meetings with veteran peers at the Veterans Chow Down that took place on November 1st.”

“The response to the book has been tremendous, says Bourges. “We are in our second printing and plan to use the book as a fundraising tool to support other events and activities for our vets."

For more information about the book and to obtain a copy, please call the Dwyer Program at (877) 331-7526 or contact jbourges@mhaputnam.org for details.