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LANETT — Participants in the Lanett Senior Center had a fun day on Friday. In an early celebration of the Memorial Day weekend, they were all dressed up in red, white and blue. They chose former Lanett Mayor and Chambers County Commissioner Henry Osborne as the one person Uncle Sam himself would be proud of.  He wore a straw hat with red and white stripes like the U.S. flag. His red socks and white tennis shoes had the same theme. His gray t-shirt proclaimed “True to the Red, White and Blue.”

Like many Senior Center members, Osborne loves taking part in the Masters Games. He recently won a gold medal in the District Games held at Valley Community Center. He hired a softball over 50 feet. Osborne will be 93 on December 6th of this year. He will never forget the day after his eleventh birthday. It was December 7th, 1941, the “date that will live in infamy” as President Franklin D. Roosevelt put it. Osborne said he still remembers all the alarms created from the radio reports of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the event that got the U.S. involved in World War II.

The seniors appreciated what Barbara Tyler told them about how important service is to our nation and how we should never forget those who died for our country. Tyler lives in Lanett and is a 27-year veteran of the U.S. Army. She served alongside soldiers who did not return home from Afghanistan.

“We are so grateful she came to speak to us today,” said Senior Center Manager Sandra Thornton. “We would like to have her back for Veterans Day in November.”