since it is not perturbed by an uneven surface which would be produced with conventional grommets having free spaces therebetween alternatively it is possible to provide an annulus portion or an entire annulus formed by the combined base portions 50 of the grommets 28 which are integrally connected to each other through the lateral surfaces 49 to form a single unit in the case of an entire annulus the grommets 28 would have to be made of a material sufficiently elastic to be able to stretch the annulus for insertion of the grommet lips 46 in into the shroud openings 54 the vane assembly 20 thus efficiently retains the vane tip in the axial direction providing additional stability to the vane position which reduces the risk of rearward movement of the vane tip 24 upon impact of a foreign object this in turn reduces the risk of damage to the grommet 28 and adjacent components upon the impact of the foreign object the vane slot 38 and mating slot 56 are easy to machine and the grommet 28 with tongues 40 and slit 42 can be manufactured using the same process as other types of grommets the vane assembly 20 eliminates the need for adhesives or the like to maintain the grommets in place which reduces costs and simplifies production and maintenance operations the above description is meant to be exemplary only and one skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made to the embodiments described without department from the scope of the invention disclosed for example the vane assembly 20 can be used for other.