a4ea435b2639bc8925ba5b781e784835.jpg

Military Appreciation Weekend at Flemington Department Store

By Carl Resnick
In the spring of 1945, World War II was ending in Europe. The war in the Pacific would go until August. Much of Europe had been left in ruins. The death toll would reach at least 50 million people, many of whom would never be identified. The number of wounded or left homeless reached into the hundreds of millions. The exact numbers will never be known.
   Russian soldiers in the Eastern part of Europe and US and other Allied soldiers on the Western front opened the doors to freedom for millions of people, many of whom worked as forced laborers or left as skeletal remains from death camps.
Hitler’s war was coming to an end and the doors of freedom were beginning to shed light. For Sara Roskoff, a victim of a forced labor camp, a new home would be a displaced persons camp in West Germany. There she met and married Jacob Resnick. Jacob was one of the many thousands of Russian soldiers that escaped to the West since they literally had nothing to go back to in the old Soviet Union.
 To the best of Sara and Jacob’s knowledge their hometowns had been destroyed and their families had perished. Each had relatives living in the United States. In January, 1947, with their 8 month son, Carl, they arrived as millions of other had before, in New York City. For them, the promised-land was America and all it offered.
In 1956, now with two more sons, Ted and Martin, the family began a small clothing business in Quakertown, New Jersey. Now its 54 years later and America had opened it’s doors to the family. It literally is an Only in America story.
Now the family run business, the Flemington Department Store is celebrating 54 years in business and well in excess of 150 employees.
None of this would have been possible had it not been for the brave men and women of our military that gave their lives in the pursuit of freedom. On Saturday and Sunday, October 2nd and 3rd, the store will open its doors to anyone with military ID and their families for gifts and extra discounts. It will be Military Appreciation Days. The store will also serve as a collection point for Operation Shoebox, an organization that sends care packages to our troops deployed overseas. (Please visit their website, wwww.operationshoebox.com to find suggested items to donate.)
There will also be a large amount of military equipment on display dating from WWII to the present. Please log on to www.alliedvsaxis.com to see some of the vehicles that will be present. Col.Bogdan Gieniewski (retired) will also be in attendance, as well as members from local chapters of Rolling Thunder. Stella Valle, an upscale jewelry line started by Paige and Ashley Dellavalle, recent veterans originally from East Amwell, will attend. Bring your kids for a fun and educational experience. We also will have free food throughout the day from local restaurants.
The program is sponsored by CARHARTT; a quality manufacturer of work clothing since 1889.
Without our military and those that put their lives on the line everyday, there would be no freedoms in America. The Resnick family knows well what happens when there are no military forces for good to combat evil. The Flemington Department Store wishes all veterans a heart-felt thank-you.