Honoring a hero: Cape Girardeau Lions Club celebrates Bob Phalen's 100th birthday with an Honor Flight to D.C.

The Cape Girardeau Noon Lions Club has been around since 1922, more than a century of community service in the area. In the club’s century, no member has turned 100 until Bob Phalen reached the mark Saturday, March 1.

On Wednesday, March 5, the Lions Club met in the reception hall of the Buckner-Ragsdale Event Center to give a special presentation to Phalen for his birthday.

Phalen, a World War II Navy veteran, was awarded a spot in the upcoming Honor Flight on Thursday, March 27, and a certificate of achievement by David Cantrell presented by VFW Post 3838, the Avenue of Flags and the Robert Wake Foundation.

This will be just the second Honor Flight to fly out of Cape Girardeau. Those on the flight will meet at the Veterans Home and be escorted to Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, where they will be welcomed with presentations, including the state flag by state Sen. Jamie Burger, and singing.

The Honor Flight will fly to Washington, D.C., where Phalen, his guest and others, will spend two days exploring the capital. They will see monuments, statues and the Smithsonian Institution.

The honor flight is sponsored by the Wake Foundation, a not-for-profit veterans organization founded in 2010 and based in Mountain Home, Arkansas.