By Dakota Antelman, Managing Editor
WESTBOROUGH – A group of local teens recently spent part of their day raking leaves at the home of former selectman and Vietnam War veteran Denzil “Denny” Drewry, after hearing Drewry was in the hospital recovering from surgery.
Drewry is “doing better,” his wife Rainie recently told the Community Advocate. And the family is grateful for the recent act of goodwill.
“They were precious,” Rainie said.
Lucas Silva organized the cleanup with seven of his classmates, including Camden Petralia, Jack Ferrechia, Ryan Snow, Ava Halpern, Elise Forbush, Caitlyn Reitsma and Sadie Cusson.
Silva, who lives in the same neighborhood as the Drewrys, had seen leaves in the Drewrys’ yard and offered to clean them up.
After coordinating with Rainie, Silva rallied a core group of friends who he said were enthusiastic about lending a hand.
“As soon as I texted them about this, they were like ‘Yep, let’s do this’ and we all went up,” Silva said.
The group raked leaves for more than two hours and planted five American flags on the Drewrys’ lawn.
Denzil Drewry is a Green Beret Vietnam War veteran who earned a Purple Heart for wounds suffered during combat and a Bronze Star for valor, among other honors. He spent six terms as a member of Westborough’s Board of Selectmen after his discharge, also serving as a member of the Rotary Club.
Drewry was honored at Westborough’s recent Veterans Day ceremony outside the Forbes Municipal Building as Pastor John Wesley Taylor asked ceremony attendees to keep Drewry in their thoughts.
“We know he had a big hand in making sure all these memorials were in place here in Westborough,” Wesley Taylor added of Drewry and the memorials at the Forbes Municipal Building.
For Silva, the opportunity to do something special for Drewry, indeed, carried extra weight during the week of Veterans Day.
“It’s just really important to put notice on Veterans Day,” he said. “I thought it was really important.”
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