Local veterans are banding together to sponsor a day of family fun and fundraising in Cornelia. The Northeast Georgia Veterans Jamboree takes place Saturday, May 13th from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Cornelia Community House and City Park.
The day will include a wide range of activities including a car show, corn hole tournament, kids games, live entertainment, free face painting, raffles, food and bake sales, and a visit from fan favorite superheroes.
VFW Post 7720 Commander Bill Miles says he and a group of local veterans have spent months organizing the event. He hopes the community will come out and support their efforts.
In addition to being a fundraiser, Saturday’s Jamboree is an opportunity to provide information to veterans and their families about organizations and services that are available to them. There are over 10,000 veterans in Habersham, White and Banks Counties alone. “I’ve got 342 in our post,” Miles says. Even at that, he says, it’s difficult to get 25 to show up for a meeting. “With all these veterans we need to do a better job of recruiting.”
We served our country. Now we’re out, but we still need to serve.
While he serves as commander of the local post of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Miles also is working with the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and American Veterans (AMVETS) groups to help with their recruitment and retention. “There’s strength in numbers,” he says.
That strength is never more obvious – or needed – than when these groups lobby elected officials on behalf of veterans issues.
“My goal is to try to get as many veterans as possible involved in these organizations,” says Miles. He tells of how last year the national VFW Commander spoke on Capitol Hill 25 times. Inevitably, each time, Miles says, congressional leaders asked him “how many members do you have?”
“What we hope is to educate veterans and their families about our organization and about getting involved,” says Miles. “We served our country. Now we’re out, but we still need to serve.”
That service reaches across Northeast Georgia in a number of ways.
Local veterans devote time and resources to visiting their fellow veterans in nursing homes and assisting them with medical and other financial needs. The Grant-Reeves VFW Post 7720 in Cornelia recently took first place in District 2 for most community service hours, according to Miles. It’s also one of the few remaining posts with an honor guard that provides full military burial services. “We go out and we provide 21 gun salute and taps,” he says. “We make sure our veterans are getting the proper burials around here. We do that with no funding. We (usually) average two funerals a month. Right now we’re on track to average two to four a month.”
Miles is captain of the honor guard. He’s proud of the work that they do. “We’ve driven all the way to the state line to pay tribute to a veteran,” he points out. With so few being called upon to do so much there’s cause for concern that one day these honor burials might not be available. “We’re dipping into our personal time to do this,” he says. “We scrape (together the money) to do what we do for the community.”
Money raised from Saturday’s Jamboree will help fund the honor guard and other local veterans groups’ activities. They’ve already gotten a head start with a generous in-kind donation from Cornelia. “The City of Cornelia graciously donated the Community House and use of the park for the day,” Miles says appreciatively.
The Northeast Georgia Veterans Jamboree will take place rain or shine. In the event of rain, the car show will be canceled but all other activities will proceed as scheduled. Superhero characters will arrive at 10 a.m. and a special quilt presentation honoring several local veterans will take place at 11 a.m. inside the Community House. Parking will be available at First Baptist Church in Cornelia with a free shuttle to and from the event.
