Jackson Kiwanis members Stan Mazur, left, and Herb Elfring were selling Kiwanis Newspaper on Friday at the Jackson Crossing Mall.
By Jeff Steers
JTV News
(December 16, 2022 3:22 PM) It seemed ironic that Jackson resident Herb Elfring was standing at the Jackson Crossing selling newspapers for the Jackson Kiwanis Club on Friday.
More than 81 years ago, Elfring was part of the biggest news story in United States history.
Elfring was just finishing breakfast when he heard bombing coming from Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
“I didn’t think too much about it – I thought they were doing maneuvers,” Elfring said at an event earlier in the year.
He was stationed on Oahu, three miles away from Pearl Harbor in the 251st Coast Artillery.
“When I saw this red ball on the airplane, I knew it wasn’t a maneuver.”
The Japanese attack caused 3,435 casualties and loss of or severe damage to 188 planes, eight battleships, three light cruisers, and four miscellaneous vessels. The attack drew the United States into World War II.
Elfring has been part of the Jackson Kiwanis Shoe and Boot Program for more than a quarter century – raising money to provide shoes and boots for needy Jackson children.
Administered by the Jackson Public Schools, the program fits hundreds of pre-school through twelfth grade students in regular or orthotic shoes and boots. The Kiwanis Club of Jackson funds the project – at a cost of approximately $10,000 each year – according to the Jackson Kiwanis website.
Since 1939, the Jackson Kiwanis has supplied 20,000 pairs of shoes and boots.
Kiwanis members were at dozens of locations throughout Jackson on Friday to raise money for the program. They ask for donations in exchange for the Kiwanis Newspaper.
Kiwanis member Stan Mazur said the organization will be bringing back the bikes and helmets program just in time for March is Reading Month.
Two bikes and helmets will be given away at 28 local elementary schools as students qualify by reading books.
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