Military Families and Patriots Welcome to Join Mountain-Area Blue Star Moms

Some mountain-area mothers whose children are serving in the military have banded together to start a new chapter of Blue Star Moms, which is affiliated with Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. Chapter organizer Zen Martinsen, whose 19-year-old daughter Sarah-Beth is currently serving as a combat medic with the U.S. Army in Germany, tells KBHR, “We are part of a national organization that started in 1942. It started with a bunch of military moms who had sons in World War II and, of course, now it has grown to sons and daughters serving in our country and throughout the world. The whole idea of Blue Star Moms is to support each other while our children are away. Once a Blue Star Mom, always a Blue Star Mom.” Though Martinsen’s Running Springs-based group is relatively new, there are already 15 families participating, and military families from the Big Bear Valley are welcome to join them. The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month (with the next meeting scheduled for November 4 at 6pm, at Toto’s Restaurant, at 31927 Hilltop Boulevard in downtown Running Springs) and, on third Saturdays of each month, the Blue Star Moms get together with mountain-area non-profit A Touch of Home to assemble care packages for military troops. The moms have also launched a website, at ROTWBlueStarMoms.com, which will soon have a scrapbook page, and they plan to march in the December 5 Blue Jay parade. Martinsen notes that the group is open to everyone—moms, dads, aunts, uncles and siblings—and, she adds, “It’s basically a calling all patriots kind-of-thing. It’s open to absolutely anyone.” For more information on the mountain’s new chapter of Blue Star Moms or their November 4 meeting, call Zen Martinsen at 867-2553.