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The Salvation Army Ventura Corps was once again host of the National Day of Prayer held at the Clarion Beach Hotel in Ventura, attended by a record-breaking crowd of over 550.
Special guests included John Kelley, CEO/Chairman of Alaska Airlines, the Port Hueneme, Pt. Mugu and Coast Guard commanders, local Christian radio (KDAR) hostess Ellen Chandler, Dr. John Morris, Institute of Creation Research, Advisory Board member and Ventura County Sheriff, Bob Brooks, Administrative Law Judge, the honorable John Geb, Ventura County Board of Education Trustee Ron Matthews, City of Ventura Fire Chief Dennis Downs, and Garvel Wike, So. Calif. Division emergency and disaster preparedness director.
Advisory Board member Jerry Nordskog served as prayer breakfast committee chairman
Lieutenants Keith and Bobbi Solts, Ventura corps officers, greeted the crowd and led them in the Pledge of Allegiance. “We are honored to be the hosts,” Solts said.
A video of the memorials from the community and of the recovery effort for Alaska Airlines Flight 261 was presented by the Ventura County sheriff’s office. One of the most memorable moments was the memorial flyover performed by the United States Coast Guard.
The video had dramatic effects. For some of those personnel involved in the recovery effort, it was a time of closure, for others a time of remembrance, and still for others a time of realization of our temporal lives. There was complete silence at the conclusion of the video except for the quiet weeping throughout the ballroom.
Kelley followed with his personal remarks and thanks to the community for their assistance during this tragedy. “Do you believe in miracles?” he asked. “I do and you have been miracles to us (Alaska Airlines).”
Guest speaker Dr. John Morris spoke on the evolution theory, describing it as a religion for naturalists that repels the notion of the supernatural.