MARYSVILLE — The day before Veterans Day saw Tulalip Heritage High School serve breakfast to vets, before Cascade Elementary’s students performed for an audience of retired, reserve and active-duty military members.

Tulalip Heritage students Samantha Marteney, Paris Verda and Mikaylee Pablo organized the “Veterans Feast” Nov. 10, which featured drummers and dancers from Tulalip Quil Ceda Elementary.

“It makes my heart happy to see our kids keeping our songs alive for the next generation,” Tulalip Heritage Principal Shelly Lacy said.

Marysville school board member Pete Lundberg is neither a Native American nor a veteran, but he grew up on the Yakama Reservation and has a son who has graduated from West Point and served as a helicopter pilot in Iraq.

“What I’ve gained from Native American culture, I can never give back,” Lundberg said. “I love the fact that Native American culture does so much to honor veterans. I don’t know if we can ever say enough how proud we all are of you.”

Chrissy Dulik Dalos, manager of Indian education for Marysville schools, cited her family’s history of military service, from World War II to Vietnam.

“They say freedom is not free, and I think we take for granted what our veterans do every day to make us free, even though we might not see it every day,” Dulik Dalos said. “This event helps our community heal, and with healing, we can move forward. It’s good to fill our hearts with gladness.”

Lacy admitted that she hadn’t been sure whether to cancel the event, in the wake of the Oct. 24 Marysville-Pilchuck High School shooting, but she credited the students of Tulalip Heritage with calling for it to continue.

“They were the ones who said we needed to keep going, to bring the community together, and I thank them for their wisdom,” Lacy said.

While many veterans remained shy, father-and-son Marines William Mclean Jr. and III joined Army veteran Gene Zackuse and Navy veteran Mike Gobin in introducing themselves.

“The singing and dancing was cool,” Zackuse said. “It made me want to get up and move myself.”

Gobin explained his non-consecutive stints in the Navy by noting that he’d wanted to join his brother in uniform the first time, and he needed to provide for his family the second time.

“If events like this can take away from the bad things that have been happening lately, that sure helps the children,” Gobin said.

Retired Marine Art Contrero added, “They’re good kids.”

Navy vet Alan Bowers, one of the staff at Tulalip Heritage, told attendees that, of the first 10 years that he and his wife were married, he was gone for five of them.

“That’s probably why we got along so well,” Bowers joked, before turning serious. “You can remake money and recover or replace lost possessions, but you can never get back time. Take a moment to remember those who sacrificed time away from their loved ones.”

Marteney, Verda and Pablo simply wanted veterans to know that people care about them, and they are not forgotten.

Cascade Elementary fed its guest veterans cake, after literally putting them center stage, so that students could read poems and letters to them, in between patriotic songs by the school choir. Music teacher Karen Rentko selected one song, “We Can Fly,” because she believed that its lyrics speak to veterans’ high expectations of themselves.

“You come from many different backgrounds and areas,” Cascade Principal Teresa Iyall-Williams said. “Regardless of your branch of service, you all have contributed to the greatness of America.”

Both Joe Stouder and Tom Belmont are veterans and grandparents of Cascade students, who have attended its veterans assemblies for nine years. While Stouder lives in Marysville, Belmont recently moved to Arizona, but he came back for this event.

“Our granddaughter Amelia was born on Veterans Day,” said Belmont, who served four years in the Air Force. “I enjoy being around these little urchins.”

Tom agreed with his wife, Judy Belmont, that children need veterans to serve as positive role models.

“They need to know how important it is that we’re a united country,” Judy said. “America is a great place, and they don’t yet know its value.”

Stouder added, “They do a really good job of honoring veterans here. I’m a pretty proud grandpa.”