The Jones County Veterans Committee continues to work toward commemorating the 25th Veterans Appreciation Day to honor all Jones County veterans who took the oath to serve their country.
The first Veterans Appreciation Day was held in Jones County Nov. 3, 2001. The date of this year’s event is Nov. 8.
Committee chairman Ret. Col. Richard Combs called the Aug. 21 meeting to order. The first speaker was committee secretary Bonnie Duke.
Duke talked about pavers at the Jones County Veterans Memorial. She said an engraver brought some new pavers last week and will be back to replace more soon.
Superior Court Clerk Grover Murray attended the meeting and told committee members his office would be glad to assist with keeping a supply and handing out applications for the pavers. He said a PDF of the document has been placed on the Superior Court website.
Duke said planning for the Col. Allen Carr 5K road race was also underway. She said ad sales for the race would begin in mid-September. She reported the committee has 300 veterans campaign hats on hand for the event, but more will be ordered.
Committee member Frank Duke spoke about two plaques proposed to be placed at the Veteran’s Memorial. One of the plaques is in honor of former State Rep. Susan Holmes, and the second will let people know they can get applications for the pavers at the clerk’s office.
Committee member Anita Dockery distributed drafts of the program for the veterans event.
She said the design for the front of the program was by the winner of the Veterans Administration’s annual poster contest, Jeremy Carpenter.
Dockery said the time of the start of the program would be changed to 11:30 a.m. due to the request of the chairman.
Combs said the committee agreed to restart the veterans’ interviews, which was part
$ 79/ mo
of the program for many years. He said this year the interviewees would be Pete Mansfield, Russell Curry and Roger Hawke.
The chairman said the interviews would be videoed by students in the audio-visual class of Jones County High School. He also asked for the program to include wreaths that are laid at the Jones County Veterans Memorial each year by Scott Walston, owner of Gray Memorial Chapel.
Committee member Charlotte Hinson said she would start gathering the patriotic give-away items from the recruiters next month.
The next meeting for the Veterans Committee is scheduled Sept. 25, 1:30 p.m., at the W. E. Knox Center.
