Donaldson speaks to the Veterans

The Veterans at the Library held their weekly meeting at the Franklin Memorial Library Monday, April 7, at 9 a.m. With Chair Johnny Tapley presiding, they had 50 in attendance. UDC provided a great breakfast consisting of grits, sausage biscuits, donuts and jelly, and Shari Watt furnished the orange juice, cranberry juice, grape juice, apple juice and coffee. The speaker was Carol Donaldson, executive director of the Sunshine House, located on W. Main Street in Swainsboro. She talked about the mission of the Sunshine House and all that they do for the abused children of our five-county area. The new veteran this morning was Thomas Joseph Stier. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army from 1987 through 2011. Stier deployed to Desert Shield/Storm and Enduring Freedom. He served in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and multiple statewide locations. Stier’s highest rank was E7/SFC. Chair Johnny talked about the upcoming trip that the veterans are taking to the 8th Air Force Museum in Savannah on March 11, at 8:15 a.m. They are traveling by vans and will have a guided tour by museum officials. After touring the museum, they will eat lunch at a restaurant with funds provided by the Beta Sigma Pi local organization. Chair Johnny also discussed the notice that they just received from Wreaths Across America organization that they were ranked 5th in the state out of nearly 300 WAA organizations concerning the number of wreaths placed on veteran’s graves for 2024. If you would like to sponsor a cemetery for 2025, please contact Scotty Nasworthy at 478-455-3264 or Shari Watt at the Library at 478-237-7791. Chair Johnny then talked about the meeting on Monday morning, April 14. It will be held at the Farmhouse Restaurant in Adrian at 11:30 a.m. and will be an “all you want to eat” fish fry with all the trimmings. Veterans are furnishing the fish, and the Farmhouse is cooking them. Also, Chair Johnny updated everyone on the “Veterans Cup Golf Tournament” that is scheduled for Saturday, May 17, at the Swainsboro Country Club. Daniels Chevrolet is sponsoring the “hole in one” prize of $10,000.00 for anyone having a hole in one during the tournament.