SCV Salutes American Veterans

September 17th Event held at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, Georgia

The second annual SCV Salutes American Veterans event was a great success! And as we had hoped, it was bigger and better than the inaugural event held in 2004. (See photos below.)

Once again, veteran patients at the VAMC enjoyed the entertainment, the prizes and the food and all the volunteers had a great time, too.

SCV members and other volunteers from across Georgia converged at Independence Park at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, Georgia early Saturday. The tents were set up, the band's equipment was set up, the charcoal was started and fun began. For several hours well into the afternoon, Independence Park was filled with the sound of music, laughter and people enjoying themselves....not to mention the smell of chicken and sausage cooking over charcoal.

Several hundred patients and staff joined us outside to enjoy the food, the music, the antique cars, the wheelchair races and the bike show and prize giveaways. It's estimated that we fed about 300 total. Many more who could not come outside received hats, goodie-bags, and good food delivered to them inside. Goodie bags were given to all the patients that included books, hats, candy and more. Prizes included fishing tackle, coolers, birdfeeders, phone cards and much more.

The antique car show was a new feature this year and Walter Duckworth brought his restored 1964 Mercury among others. He's a member of several antique car clubs and unfortunately all were pledged to other events this weekend. Will try to get more cars in future years. As you'll see in the pix below, we had a 1929 Model A and and a 1931 car which were driven up on the lawn to be more accessible than the parking lot for those patients with limited mobility.

Thanks to our many volunteers, sponsors and contributors, we had plenty of food and prizes for everyone and we presented the VAMC Recreation staff with checks for $1500.00 to provide patients with entertainment and recreation in the future (bowling nights, fishing day-trips, etc.).

The non-SCV volunteers were many including six members of the two bands, Emmitt Sherling the master chef, Suzanne Huffman, Bobby Patrick and many others. Bobby Patrick once again emceed the Motorcycle show judging and the wheelchair races. We had a lot more bikes than last year as you can see from the photos below. Patients volunteered to serve as judges for the motocycle show; SCV members volunteered to serve as judges for the wheelchair race and we had a number of enthusiastic patients who entered their wheelchairs (electric and manual) in the competition which required a combination of speed and agility. Ladies from the UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy) Macon and Dublin chapters, brought pies and desserts and helped with preparing and serving. We had many many more home-made desserts this year and everyone had their fill---we also had generous donations from the Kroger bakery and others. A group from the Christian Motorcyclists attended and were a great help with serving the food.

The bands were great and entertained everyone with a mix of bluegrass, blues, pop and yes, even disco music. These guys were really versatile and professional in their show. We had a bluegrass/folk duo known as "Playing Possum" who played separately during the band's breaks. The "no-name" band this year again featured Camp 1399 member Walter Duckworth doing vocals. The remainder of the band were Jerry Peek, Bronnie Turner, Don Lee and Ward Evans. They put on a very impressive show.

Georgia Division Commander Jack Bridwell delivered the keynote address and did a great job with that (as always) explaining why our Southern heritage and our American veterans are important to SCV members.

Many of the young children of SCV members volunteered to assist with distributing drawing tickets, delivering prizes to winners, serving the food and much more. Thanks to Candice, a pretty young lady who traveled from Metter to help. Thanks to Kipp & Lee Pittman for bringing the tents and banners for the event.

Due to privacy regulations, we are not able to show many of the great photos and activities that we had, and the faces of the veterans really tells the story best (be there next year to see what we mean). As you'll see in the photos below, we had to conceal their faces to comply with regulations. One veteran, Sergeant-Major William Delaney, USMC, volunteered to be interviewed by 13-WMAZ TV who came to cover the event (careful not to video patients). Delaney's face is not covered in the photos below since he signed a release in advance. The Channel 13 TV lady also interviewed Commander Bridwell.

A CD of photos will be delivered to the VAMC for posting on their bulletin board. The photos shown below which do include patients were modified to conceal their identities.

The veteran patients all seemed to enjoy the event and many expressed appreciation for the entertainment, prizes and attention paid to them. All the volunteers enjoyed the event as well and we hope to keep this an annual event. Based on the feedback we received, the veterans definitely want us to come back for a third annual event. VAMC recreation staffer Todd Spees told us that from the feedback he received from patients, our event is "the best bar none."

Months of legwork went into planning the event, selling raffle tickets, making birdfeeders and securing donations from the contributors. Special thanks goes to Russ Huffman (Commander Camp 2084) for leading these efforts once again. This year he received a lot more significant help from area SCV Camps in Eastman, Metter and elsewhere. Thanks, y'all! We'll need more help with the advance pre-event work in future years so we don't burn these guys out! We had Camps from all over at the event including Camp 1399 (Warner Robins), Camp 2084 (Jeffersonville), Camp 2039 (Eastman), Camp 2006 (Douglas), Camp 2022 (Waynesville), Camp 1449 (Thomaston), Camp 18 (Macon), Camp 674 (Moultrie)----I hope I didn't leave anyone out. We'd like to have more next year---you'll be glad you came.

Thanks to all the volunteers...but most of all, thanks to ALL our American veterans for their service and sacrifice.
---Steve Scroggins, Adjutant, SCV Camp 1399, Warner Robins, GA

Click the thumbnails below to see larger versions. Photos by Steve Scroggins.

The SCV Salutes American Veterans was held in "Independence Park" beind the Carl Vinson VAMC.
Kipp Pittman and Bud Cranford share a smile	Commander Gary Hudgens and master chef Emmett Sherling man the grill	'Playing Possum' performs	Chris Day, Randy Wilson and Bobby Higginbotham prep food serving table
Man...that meat's cookin' slow...	Christian Motorcyclists, Kim Beck & daughter on serving line	Jack Bridwell enjoys music with vets	Vets enjoy the music of the 'No-Name Band'
Volunteers enjoy a bite planning more of the program	VAMC staffer Todd Spees (left) discusses wheelchair race plans with volunteers	Camp 1399 volunteers Ken Gunn, A.O. Smith, Randy Wilson & Alan Burden	Huffman twins assist master chef Emmitt Sherling
Vets enjoying the show	Vets enjoying the show	Christian Motorcyclist Volunteers taking a break	Division Commander Jack Bridwell (right) presents Camp 1399 Commander Gary Hudgens with a VietNam War Service Medal
Kim Beck and some of the Eastman volunteers	Jack Bridwell addresses the vets	Audience listens to Jack Bridwell	Camp 2084's Dan Faulk conducts the door-prize drawing with help from Candice, a younger lady and Russ Huffman
Veteran shows off the camouflage jacket doorprize he won as Camp 1399's Chaplain Bobby Higginbotham (right) looks on.	The Gas Grill raffle drawing was held and won by a citizen of Lincolnton, GA	Trophies for the Antique Car Show, the Wheelchair competition and the Motorcycle show	Veteran William Delaney (USMC) enjoys the event -- Mr. Delaney served in the WWII Pacific and in Korea
Camp 1399's Bud Cranford wins award for 'Dirtiest Bike'...a cleaning kit.	1931 Antique Car	1929 Model A	Russ Huffman waits at finish line with stop-watch during wheelchair slalom competition
More slalom competition - slalom scores combined with speed race scores for overall winner	Winner of Wheelchair Competition is awarded trophy	Bikes on display	VAMC's Todd Spees (left) and Russ Huffman (Camp 2084)