12:00 AM - 12:00 AM
Ceremony honoring veterans starts at 9 so veterans can receive lapel pins and NSDAR certificate. We have identified 38 soldiers KIA in Vietnam from 2-county area, and we are working on locating family members, who will be invited to participate. There will be a service project contest following the ceremony, & veterans/active duty/reserves in attendance will be asked to vote on their favorite projects. Over $6000 in cash prizes will be awarded, based only on votes received on day of event. Categories for the contest are grades 4-6, grades 7-9, grades 10-12, college ROTC programs, and college STEM majors. Information has been personally delivered to 23 ROTC programs, over 20 STEM programs, and 22 local schools. Information was also delivered to 545 veterans organizations, boy/girl scout troops, and 4-H clubs. This date was chosen to coincide with local VFW event on Wednesday for Vietnam Veteran Welcome Home Day (details pending). We will be providing information on day trips, and plan to have blocks of rooms at local hotels at reduced rates to encourage people coming into town for Wednesday to stay through Saturday. Additional plans also include having Vietnam-era movies at local theater (or drive-in), and spaces set aside to allow veterans to record their histories for Veterans History Project. We will also be assembling a memorial involving a flag for each veteran who served during Vietnam from this county (2,125 flags). We are requesting a speaker for the ceremony, and a staffed booth during the contest, both of which will be in the same building (First Baptist Church of Litchfield). This event will be similar to last year (23 April 2016) event, but with additional category for ROTC programs and expanded nursing category to include STEM programs. Also have several additional months to advertise, and will be sending press releases to local newspapers at least once monthly. We have printed brochures to hand out, and will have them displayed throughout the area.