Merry Christmas, and happy birthday, too

Joe Demler of Port Washington has been a spokesman for the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight since its inception in 2008, and his wife Therese has been by his side throughout the years. So it was fitting that when Mrs. Demler celebrated her 90th birthday on Saturday, Dec. 22, the Honor Flight would plan something special for her. “They’ve been so good to the Honor Flight family, everybody’s gotten so close to them,” Stars and Stripes Honor Flight founder Joe Dean said. Roughly 50 members of the organization surprised her by visiting the Demler house to carol (right photo) and then partake in some birthday cake. Joining the festivities were (top photo, back row, from left) Doug McManus, Therese Demler, Renee Riddle, Amy Luft, Joe Dean, Laura Wing, (front row) World War II veteran Julian Plaster, Joe Demler, Jane Dean and Steve Deutsch.                                                         Photos by Sam Arendt