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September 18th Event held at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, Georgia The inaugural SCV Salutes American Veterans event was a great success! (See photos below.)
Veteran patients at the VAMC enjoyed the entertainment, the prizes and the food.
SCV members and other volunteers from across Georgia converged on Dublin, Georgia early Saturday. The tent was set up, the band's equipment was set up,
the charcoal was started and fun began.
Dozens of patients and staff joined us outside to enjoy the food, the music and the bike show and prize giveaways. It's estimated that we fed about 200 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 sunglasses, binoculars, phone cards and much more.
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
$1000.00 to provide patients with entertainment and recreation in the future.
The non-SCV volunteers were many including four members of the band, Emmitt Sherling the master chef, Robert Sanders, Mike Huffman, Wade Huffman, Suzanne Huffman and others. Bobby Patrick of the Rolling Thunder POW/MIA group emceed the motocycle show and the wheelchair show. We didn't have as many bikes
as we had planned, but it was still well-received. Patients volunteered
to serve as judges for the motocycle show; SCV members volunteered to serve as judges for the wheelchair show and we had a number of
enthusiastic patients who entered their wheelchairs in the competition. Ladies from the UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy), such as Mrs. Joanne Lusk and others, brought pies and desserts and helped with preparing and serving.
The band was great and entertained everyone with a mix of blues and pop music. The songs included Blue Sky (Allman Brothers), Proud Mary (CCR), Third Rate Romance (Amazing Rhythm Aces), Pink Houses (John Mellencamp),
Wanna Talk About Me, Brown-Eyed Girl, Love's Gotta Hold On Me, Stray Cat Strut, Follow Me, Black Magic Woman, Margaritaville, Sail On, Kiss You All Over, Word Up, Southbound, Brickhouse. These guys were really versatile and
professional in their show.
Georgia Division Commander Jack Bridwell delivered the keynote address.
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.
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.
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 make
this an annual event. Based on the feedback we received on the questionnaires, the veterans want us to come back for sure.
Months of legwork went into planning the event and securing donations from the contributors and the lions share of the credit goes to a small group including Russ Huffman, Charles Brewer and a few others.
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!
Thanks to all the volunteers...but most of all, thanks to ALL our American veterans for their service and sacrifice. Click the thumbnails below to see larger versions. Photos by Steve Scroggins.
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