Two days before the annual celebration of Veterans Day, a team from the Bulova Watch Company, which included a video team of videographers, visited the nation’s unique watchmaking school for disabled military veterans in Odessa, Delaware, a town with a history of watchmaking dating back several centuries.

Founded by Sam Cannan, a Swiss-trained, internationally certified watchmaker, the school provides tuition-free education to teach disabled American servicemen the skills of watchmaking under the expert supervision of professional watchmakers. It recently celebrated its first anniversary.

The school is based on the Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking created in 1945 by Joseph Bulova’s son Arde Bulova in an effort “to repay in some small measure, the sacrifice and service of returning disabled veterans after the Second World War,” for disabled veterans. It trained a generation of American watchmakers.

Mr. Cannan lives in Dover and makes the daily 45-mile commute to the school to work with six students nearing graduation. His expertise is in the repair of high-end mechanical watches, including Rolex, Patek Philippe, Baume & Mercier, Ebel, Panerai, Tag Heuer, and Breitling. He designed, developed, constructed and equipped state of the art watch labs used as today’s industry standard and has been recognized by the international watch industry.

While the school can only accommodate six veterans at the present time, it has a long list of applicants from across the nation. In addition to the Odessa facility, future plans include the construction of a handicapped accessible facility on four acres of donated land in Middletown, Delaware, that will accommodate as many as 25 veterans who can be trained in various aspects of watch repair and watchmaking.

Visit www.veteranswatchmakerinitiative.org, email scannan@vwmi.org, or call 302-465-2421 for more information on assisting in or donating to its programs. A clip of the interview done during the Bulova visit can be seen at www.Bulova.com then clicking on the Veterans Watchmaking Initiative.

“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”

– George Washington

Five years ago in September 2013, the Delaware Veterans Trust Fund became law under the management of the Commission of Veterans Affairs.

The good news is this important fund has helped hundreds of Delaware’s veterans in proven financial crisis with one-time, hand up grants that have prevented utility disconnections, repossessions, evictions, made emergency repairs to homes and vehicles, and sometimes put food on the table. Between $80,000 and $100,000 is granted each year depending on need and available resources.

The not-so-good news is that the fund is not part of the state budget and must rely on private donations. That’s why a group of military veterans formed the Friends of Delaware Veterans, a 501c3 organization. They volunteer their time, effort and resources to help their fellow men and women in dire need.

Below is a flyer about the 5th Annual Delaware Veterans Trust Fund Dinner on Saturday, November 3, at Dover Downs’ Rollins Center, along with information about our keynote speaker.

Our unofficial slogan is “Don’t Forget: Remember the Vet.”

I hope you will consider one of the following options on the flyer and on our website and urge others to do so. It will present a wonderful opportunity to show support for those who serve our great state and nation.

1. Join us that evening for dinner (choices below)
2. Become a dinner patron
3. Purchase a business card ad in our program for $100 by emailing Sable.vance@state.de.us by October 25. We are not including images, just the business name and contact information. These ads will be featured on the event program urging people to support our sponsors.

Visit DelawareVeteransTrustFund.com to read about our mission, see an interview with several recipients, and a view the listing of our distinguished board.

Finally, please share this information with others. Your help will be greatly appreciated as we approach the October 25 registration deadline.

The dinner menu choices are:

• Duet of Grilled Chicken & Jumbo Crab Cakes; with starch and vegetable of the day. House Salad with freshly baked rolls & butter. Desert with freshly Brewed Gevalia Regular & Decaffeinated Coffees, Iced Tea and Assorted Teas
• Two Entrée Chicken only with no Crab Cake
• Vegetarian or Vegan entrees
• Thank you in advance.

Very best regards,
Dave Skocik, president
Friends of Delaware Veterans, Inc.
c/o Commission of Veterans Affairs
802 Silver Lake Blvd., Suite 100
Dover, DE 19904 739-2792
dskocik@aol.com 270-7145 cell