Varsity players and cheerleaders stood in a line as the veterans passed, holding red, white and blue balloons and applauding as the audience stood and cheered.

As the CA marching band played "The Star Spangled Banner," many of the wheelchair-bound veterans saluted the flag and the players and cheerleaders released the balloons into the gray afternoon sky, in a ceremony just before the start of the varsity game against Wayne. Some of the audience members were crying softly as the balloons drifted away. Among those looking on was Stephanie Boylan, whose son, Nick, is a varsity football player.

"It made the hair on my arms stand up," she said of the tribute. "It's too bad we only remember to do this in a crisis, because this is a respect issue." The crisis Boylan cited is a federal plan to close the VA Medical Center, relocate the inpatients and transfer most of its 725 jobs elsewhere. Earlier this month, Canandaigua coaches and Ralph Calabrese, a veterans' advocate and critic of the federal plan, joined forces to plan Saturday's event.

Braves JV cornerback and tailback Robert Mack participated in the event. "We did it to show we care for veterans," he said. "We're not just shrugging them off of our shoulders. They weigh heavy in our hearts every game. Especially around September 11 because when we remember the people we lost, it sparks a flame. These people fought for us and we should respect them the way they showed respect for us."

Veteran Al Thorpe is an Army veteran who fought in World War II. Being at Evans Field brought back memories of watching his own sons play football for the Canandaigua Braves.

"They can't close the VA," Thorpe said. "There are services here and the vets need them - we need them bad."

Mack, whose mother Laurie works at the hospital, said he wished he could offer his own heartfelt solution to the veterans' plight: "I don't think it's fair the veterans should lose everything," he said, "it's like kicking them out of their house. If I could, I would let them stay in mine."

On Friday, Sept. 19, at 1 p.m., the 15-member Capital Asset Realignment Services (CARES) commission will meet in Syracuse to review the federal proposal to close the hospital.

"This event is one reason they don't dare shut down this VA," said Calabrese. "If they do, what example is America giving these kids?"

"These young people here today are setting an example," he added. "Now all we have to do is follow it