Local church choirs and singers will raise their voices starting at 2:00 pm on Sunday, September 8. Then, at 4:30 pm the Pickens/Oconee Quilt of Valor group will present five quilts local veterans.
Beth Eastman, the PIckens/Oconee QOV Coordinator gave us a little history of the group in advance of tomorrow’s ceremony:
Quilts of Valor Foundation began in 2003 with a dream, literally a dream. Founder Catherine Roberts’ son Nat was deployed in Iraq.
According to Catherine: The dream was as vivid as real life. I saw a young man sitting on the side of his bed in the middle of the night, hunched over. The permeating feeling was one of utter despair. I could see his war demons clustered around, dragging him down into an emotional gutter. Then, as if viewing a movie, I saw him in the next scene wrapped in a quilt. His whole demeanor changed from one of despair to one of hope and well-being. The quilt had made this dramatic change.
Our chapter of QOV (Quilt of Valor)was started approximately 10 years ago. We have a group of wonderful ladies that come to sew. As of 2024, we have over 600 quilts and more on the way. We are all dedicated to making beautiful quilts for our Veterans. It is a wonderful opportunity to use our talents to make quilts for deserving veterans that served our country and protected all of us. We are so proud to do this, and many tears have been shed as we listen to their stories, and all are different.
We will be presenting quilts to four brothers and one cousin on September 8th at the Field of Honor:
- Larry McCauley
- Harry McCauley
- Roger McCauley
- David McCauley
- Robert McCauley
Please come and show these five Veterans how much we appreciate their service and show them some South Carolina love.