see VETERANS

Photos by Christina Amano Dolan/The Local

Board of Supervisors Chair Angela Kelly-Wiecek offers welcoming remarks to the crowd. Below, veterans in the crowd stand for the ceremonial wreath escort lead by Doug Stansbury and Brooks McCormick.

Guest speaker Columbus Pollard offers an inspiring speech about his and his family’s military service and the American Dream. Left, Aaron Reidmiller, director of Hanover County Parks and Recreation, reads aloud the newest names that have been added to the bricks of the Hanover Veterans Memorial. Right, George Navas, master of ceremonies and Chairman of the Hanover County Veterans Committee, offers his own remarks to the crowd.

George Navas presents members of the Hanover Veterans Committee with challenge coins honoring their service to the community.

VETERANS

Continued from pg. 1 Wiecek welcomed attendees with opening remarks.

“When we looked at the forecast on Monday and in consultation with the committee, thinking about what a wonderful and special occasion this is, we thought we just can’t let a little rain stop us,” she said. Kelly-Wiecek gave a brief history of Veterans Day, which was formerly known as Armistice Day at the close of World War I. After being signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1954, the day would become a celebration of all veterans, past and present.

She narrated the history of her own family’s involvement in the military through various generations, including her grandfather, who served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. That family history offered her a deeper understanding of the spirit of a veteran.

“It strikes me that our veterans are not just servants when they are in uniform and on active duty, but long after their military service may come to an end,” she said, adding that there are countless volunteer roles and areas that veterans serve in and “instill that spirit of service in younger generations.”

“Veterans make our communities better,” said George Navas, chairman of the Hanover County Veterans Committee.

He said fewer than 10% of Americans “can claim the honorable title of a U.S. military veteran,” labeling them as a “special group” that provides vital services that enable their communities to function and thrive. “Chances are that if you surveyed your local police or fire department, you would find that a disproportionately high percentage of its members are veterans,” he said. “You cannot fight a war without creating veterans, and while the utopian idea of a society without war is appealing, let's not forget that veterans gained our independence from tyranny; liberated slaves; defeated communism, fascism, and imperialism; kept the peace during the Cold War; and are battling terrorism today,” Navas said.

Navas additionally called for recognition of the families of these brave veterans who endure frequent address changes, interrupted employment by spouses, disproportionate sharing of parental responsibilities and separation from friends and loved ones.

“And hardest of all, the uncertainty of whether or not mom or dad will live through their next combat tour,” Navas said. “For many veterans our nation was important enough to endure long separation from their families – missed the births of their children, freeze in subzero temperatures, vacant wild jungles, lose limbs and, far too often, their very lives,” he said. “It is not in the nature of America’s warriors to complain. Warriors endure. Warriors make do with less. Warriors finish the job no matter how hard, no matter what is asked, and in each other we find community.”

The ceremony’s guest speaker, Columbus Pollard, proudly shared his and his family’s extensive history of military involvement. Pollard is a U.S. Army veteran who was honorably discharged in 1985 at the rank of staff sergeant.

“I have been surrounded with vets my entire life,” Pollard said, particularly noting the impact his father made on his life. His father served in the Korean War while raising six children on his own.

Pollard also recognized his wife, Allison, who held a military ID her entire life and served in the U.S. Navy for decades. Following in the footsteps of her father, she became the first black female to graduate from the Naval Academy from the state of New York.

“We love this country,” Pollard said. “So we believe in the American Dream… We still believe that the American Dream is still alive in this country, but the question is, is the dream still alive in you?”

Pollard said younger generations are losing faith in the American Dream over time.

“It’s mind boggling to us that people have given up on America. How do you give up on this country?” he said. “How do you not hold your leadership accountable for what they say and for what they do and for the things that they put in front of your youth?”

“We have to teach our children what America is all about – the American Dream is still alive,” Pollard said. “They must believe in that dream, they’ve got to be able to see it… to see the force instead of the tree that is standing in front of them.”

Pulling from the teachings of his father, he said it is vitally important for veterans to teach youth about adversity and how it is a part of life and requires the strength to keep moving.

“We have to teach our children how to give America their focus, their effort, their energy, and their time… then America will deliver the dream of them and their family,” Pollard said.

Toward the conclusion of the ceremony, Aaron Reidmiller, director of Hanover County Parks and Recreation, read aloud the newest names that have been added to the memorial bricks of the Hanover County Veterans Memorial at Wayside Park: James Atkinson (U.S. Army), John Axselle, III (U.S. Army), Stephen Cooper (U.S. Air Force), Kevin Corcoran (U.S. Army), Kevin Corcoran (U.S. Army), James F. Corrigan (U.S. Navy), Donald Fuller (U.S. Air Force), P. Edwin Fuller (U.S. Marine Corps), Wayne D. Fuller (U.S. Army), Johnny R. Giragosian (U.S. Merchant Marines), Ed King (U.S. Army), Kevin Mills (U.S. Army), Lewis Mills, Jr. (U.S. Army), John A. Salotti (U.S. Army), and Henry L. Wood (U.S. Army).

Residents can help finance the ongoing memorial project with a $100 donation, which buys a brick paver on the walkway leading up to the brick and granite memorial wall. Brick pavers can be inscribed with the name of any U.S. military veteran serving in active duty or who has been granted an honorable discharge.

For more information, visit the website, https://www. hanovercounty.gov/243/ Hanover-Wayside-Park.

Events continue through the fall at the Ashland Museum

Contributed Report Th e Local

In partnership with the Hanover County Black Heritage Society, The Ashland Museum and Pamunkey Regional Library, the library is hosting an informational event on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Ashland Branch Library, 201 S. Railroad Avenue, Ashland. Rosanne Shalf will talk about researching the records at the Hanover County Circuit Court, with an emphasis on AfricanAmerican records. This is free and open to the public.

Trivia night continues on Nov. 17, 6 p.m. Bring a friend or join a team in Origin Beer Garden, 106 S. Railroad Avenue, Ashland. No reservations are needed.

Join the Ashland Museum for the final 2022 HistoryTalks program on Thursday, Dec. 1. Barclay DuPriest will profile Hercules Mulligan, an IrishAmerican tailor for British soldiers during the Revolutionary War and a spy for George Washington. The program will be in the SunTrust Theater at Brock Commons, 304 Henry Street on the Randolph-Macon College campus, Ashland, at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

The Ashland Museum will offer two holiday guided walking tours of South Center Street on Sunday, Dec. 4,at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Each tour will end with a reception at 905 S. Center Street, a Greek Revival home built in 1872. Details and reservations are available at ashlandmuseum.org. For information on these and other events, contact the Ashland Museum by email: ashlandmuseum@comcast.net, call 804-368-7314, or visit ashlandmuseum.org.

Photo courtesy of Ashland Museum

A HistoryTalks program on Dec. 1 will focus on Hercules Mullligan.

The Ashland Museum hosts international exchange students Clay Spring Garden Club learns valuable hydrangea growing tips

Contributed Report Th e Local

The Clay Spring Garden Club of Ashland held their monthly meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 8 and welcomed speaker Joan Vandervort, who gave a presentation entitled “Tips for Growing Hydrangeas” that had all of the members captivated and taking notes.

Vandervort is a Master Gardener from Hanover County and a hydrangea expert. Some of her top growing tips were location, location, location – check your hydrangea species, as some love a sunny location and some love shade. Gardeners should make sure their soil is well-drained and prune judiciously based on their specific type of hydrangea.

A beautiful fall lunch buffet was served by members, Dale Cannon and Joan Corfield, complete with club sandwiches and warm apple cider.

The floral design exhibit themes were “Remembrance,” a design using a container that holds a memory and “We Are Thankful,” a dining table design using fall flowers. Club members created designs that were breathtaking and heart-warming.

The next meeting will be held at the Ashland Christian Church and will feature a potluck Christmas lunch. Anyone who loves gardening, horticulture and floral design and is interested in joining the Clay Spring Garden Club is invited to contact the Membership Committee Chairperson Laura Follo at (203) 687-0196 for more information.

Contributed photo

Hanover Master Gardener Joan Vandervort presents “Tips for Growing Hydrangeas” to the Clay Spring Garden Club of Ashland.

Contributed photo

Shown are fl oral designs created by Clay Spring Garden Club members based on their meeting’s theme, “Remembrance.”

Photo courtesy of Ashland Museum

The Ashland Museum welcomed 10 international students for a scavenger hunt around Ashland on Nov. 6. Through the International Student Exchange (I.S.E.) program, the students attend high school in Central Virginia. They are from Brazil, Germany, Spain and Thailand. The students, their host families and Welby Whiting Fairlie, I.S.E. southeast regional manager, met at the Ashland Museum before following clues and taking selfi es through downtown Ashland.

Carey joins Town of Ashland as business development manager

Contributed Report Th e Local

The Town of Ashland is pleased to announce that Bobbie Carey has joined the staff as business development manager working on economic development initiatives within the Planning and Community Development Department.

Carey is a graduate of Lehigh University in Pennsylvania with a degree in engineering and also holds an MBA from Pace University in New York. Her economic development experience began in Dutchess County, NY in 2001, where she managed a tax incentive program that encouraged businesses of all sizes to create jobs and make investments.

After relocating to Mechanicsville with her family in 2006, Carey worked as a part-time business consultant at the Greater Richmond Small Business Development Center. Her work included counseling small businesses and assisting in marketing and training. Prior to joining the town, Carey was working for a Hanover County-based travel agency planning international travel, managing large group incentive trips for corporations and marketing the company’s services.

Information submitted by Martha Miller, Town of Ashland community engagement manager.

Bobbie Carey