Our Veterans' Coffee Was A Success

Yes, it was! So successful that our director, Melody Jenkins, said we'll plan another one for next year!
Approximately 50 people arrived around 9 a.m. to attend our "Salute to Veterans," which was held in the library's Willcoxon Auditorium on Friday, November 14.
The event began with Melody welcoming everyone and telling how the Catherine M. Bryant Veterans History Project began. She said we now have 113 notebooks that hold information on more than 15,000 veterans of all wars and conflicts. She invited everyone to watch a special video presentation and enjoy refreshments.
The next speaker, Dr. Fritzie Sheumaker, director of Alternative Education with the Colquitt County Schools, told about finding her Dad's discharge card after he passed away. She said he must have been very proud to carry that card with him in his billfold for all those years. She also thanked the REACH program students for their hard work with the interviews for the video presentation.
Then Lynn Pritchett, principal of the REACH program, told about growing up as a "Navy brat." She married her husband, who was in the Army, and now they have a son in the Coast Guard. She told how the REACH students worked on their video project, and she thanked the veterans who participated.
A nice touch to the event was when the REACH students presented DVDs to the veterans they interviewed: Hoyt Holland (Army), Johnnie Shriver (Army), and Judson Mclean (Army Air Corp/Air Force). DVDs were also presented to Jack Bridwell, representative of the Museum of Colquitt County History, for placement in the museum, and Ann Glass, Veterans History Project Chairman, for inclusion in the Project.
Thanks also went to Beau Sherman, teacher of the video project, as well as the John Benning DAR and the Moultrie McNeill Chapter UDC for their help and contributions.
After the program, the guests watched the video interviews, which were shown on a large television screen. They reminisced and laughed. It was a time of sharing old war stories by many. For others, it was a time to reflect on what our veterans have given to us all...our freedom. And they continue to do so, every day.
Our veterans' coffee was just a small way to say "thank you."