Saturday, January 25 was my family’s post Christmas gathering. It was also the day of a Quilt of Valor award for my sister’s husband, Allen Bunn. Twenty-five members of my family on my mom’s side sat around the room and listened as I did the reading that I have done over 30 times before. This time, it was different. It was personal.
I knew Allen in high school and remember when he enlisted at 17. I remember learning that he was stationed in Qui Nho’n Vietnam and writing and sending him packages. He served two tours there in Military Intelligence, returned and went on with his life. Four years ago he became my brother-in-law, marrying my widowed older sister.
“This is the best gift I have ever received,” Bunn said, as he wiped away a tear. “I have always felt that it was an honor and a privilege to serve my country.”
I, too, wiped away more than one tear. It was the most poignant ceremony I have every been part of. Now I truly understand how it feels.
Gerald Stethers, World War II Veteran from Wyalusing, received a quilt of Valor at his home on Sunday March 1.
Margaret Gordon, long time family friend, nominated Stethers for the award. Stethers’ family, Lanny and Debbie Stethers and Lonny and Leslie and Caitlin Stethers, were present for the ceremony which was done by Renee Arnold and Carol Ullo representing Bradford County Chapter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation.
Stethers served with the 104th Infantry Division in Germany
In February of 1945, Private Stethers led his platoon through a mine field. His platoon, reduced to half strength, was surrounded in a barn yard by a strong force of enemy infantry and armor. Boldly exposing himself to enemy fire, Stethers engaged a burp- gunner in a fire fight, killing his adversary. Although wounded, he continued to fire on the enemy, refusing to be evacuated. He later received the Silver Star, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, European Theater Medal, American Theater Service Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
Lynn Maynard of Gillett received a Quilt of Valor on January 13, 2020 . Maynard, who had just celebrated his 98th birthday was surrounded by family and friends when he received the award and certificates from the Troy VFW.
Maynard served from 1942 to 1945 primarily in Italy where he was a courier. He was awarded the Bronze Star for heroic action after he and another soldier went behind enemy lines to deliver a crucial message to another battalion.
Across the nation, Saturday February 1, was Quilt of Valor National Sew Day. Nineteen local quilters gathered at Wysox Presbyterian Church to sew Quilts of Valor. It was a good day. We finished 3 tops and have 6 which are almost finished. We made 4 quilt backs and yards of red, white and blue binding. It was a great day to meet up with friends and make new ones while working hard to create quilt tops to cover our local veterans.
Every year, on the first Saturday in February, the Quilts of Valor Foundation holds a nationwide sewing bee to make Quilts of Valor. The Bradford County Quilts of Valor Chapter will host our National Sew Day event from 10 am – 3 pm on February 1st at the Wysox Presbyterian Church (22953 Rt 187, about 0.3 miles north of Rt 6).
We will be working on quilt tops, so bring sewing machines, rotary cutting equipment, and general sewing supplies such as irons, thread, pins, and scissors.
Fabric, patterns and lunch will be provided. We will have a fun day sewing in teams to complete quilt tops.
If you have 2.5″ strips of any length in suitable patriotic fabrics/colors that you want to donate, bring them along and Patti will organize a project to use them.
Everyone is welcome to come join us for this fun and productive day! We can use volunteers to cut, press, sew, pin, organize fabrics, etc. You don’t have to be a quilter or a member of Quilts of Valor to help.
Please register for this event on the national website at QOVF.org. Scroll down to the box about National Sew Day and select membership login or public registration. Participants who register will be entered in a raffle to win the Janome 3160QOV shown in the photo there.
Charles Miller, Vietnam Veteran, was awarded a Quilt of Valor on Sunday December 15, at the Saco Hill Church in Ulster after the Sunday service. Members of the congregation, family and friends assembled for the awarding ceremony. The quilt, made and designed by Kelly Pakes, was awarded by Pakes and Carol Ullo, representatives of the Bradford County Chapter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation.
Sunday December 15, Todd Grace was presented with a Quilt of Valor. Grace is a 22 year Air Force Veteran who served in South Korea, Afghanistan and southwestern Asia. Grace’s parents, family and friends gathered at his home for the ceremony. The quilt was made and presented by Faye Lubold and Carol Ullo, members of the Bradford County Chapter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation.
Surrounded by his family at his home on Oct 27, Ruth awarded Paul Cook with a Quilt of Valor. She presented him with a quilt that she made which highlighted the army images. Cook served in some of the most brutal battles of Vietnam and was wounded in one of them.
Thomas House receives QOV
On October 31, Thomas House received a Quilt of Valor. Faye and Carol Presented it at his home . Family and friends gathered to join the ceremony. Thomas was stationed in the Alaskan territory just 30 miles from the Soviet Union in the 1950’s. He helped to set up the Distant Early Warning system which functioned from the Cold War until satellites replaced it.
It’s November, already. The weather has turned really cold and across the country we are celebrating our Veterans. We also celebrate Thanksgiving this month and one thing we are all thankful for this wonderful country and for the sacrifices made by our Veterans to preserve our freedom.
We saw some beautiful QOV tops and finished quilts at the Friendship Quilters’ meeting last month:
BCQOV recently presented two Quilts of Valor.
World War II Vet receives QOV for Veteran’s Day
92 old Andrew Bobik, Jr smiled as he received his QOV at the Ascension Ukrainian Catholic Church in Sayre on Tuesday, November 12th. Andy was in the 88th infantry in WWII and his unit protected the Italian Border with Yugoslavia from invasion following Hitler’s surrender. In the photo below he is flanked by members of 5 local veterans’ organizations, his family, pastor and Kelly and I who had the privilege of awarding this quilt. It was a bitterly cold day and Andy chose to keep his quilt around his shoulders during the Mass for Veteran’s that followed.
Donald Allis, Vietnam Veteran receives QOV at his place of Business
On October 18th, co-workers, family, and friends gathered to award Don Allis with a Quilt of Valor. Allis served in the Navy during the Vietnam War. Ruth presented the quilt which she made to reflect his proud service to the Navy.
It was was a blustery day up on the hill at Mt Pisgah State Park today where Veterans and supporters met for the annual Patriots in the Park event. It was a very moving program with Iraq war veterans speaking. I think what made it so poignant for me was that the fact that for these young men the reality of war is still very fresh in their minds. Deb Struble, Sharon Sargent and I had the honor of awarding quilts to veterans whose service spanned from the Iraq War to World War II: Clyde Seeley, World War II and Korea; Joseph Kozak, Korea; Vernon Perry, Iraq; and Robert Smith, Kuwait Liberation, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Left to right: Clyde Seeley, World War II and Korea; State Representative Clint Owlett, Vernon Perry, Iraq; State Representative Tina Pickett, Robert Smith, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan; Joseph Kozak, Korea.
The nip in the air was a reminder that fall is upon us and for me it was a reminder that my last post was in June. Summer seemed to fly by with the all the activities that summer brings and that included several QOV award ceremonies.
In July, Ruth Clearwater and Renee Stewart awarded QOV’s at the Haight’s Pond VFW’s annual picnic. The recipients were: Gerald Corbin, Vietnam; Theron Hitchcock, Vietnam; Brian Coleman, Vietnam; Stuart Brink,Vietnam; and Glenn Owen, Korea, Desert Storm, Haiti, and Yugoslavia.
Left to right: Stuart Brink being presented his quilt by his wife, Donna; Brian Coleman by his daughter, Jodilynn Coleman; Willis Brown by his wife, Genelle; Gerald Corbin by his wife, Linda; Glenn Owen by his mother Donna Reese; and Theron Hitchcock by Renee Stewart.
Ruth also awarded quilts to George Lehman, WWII; Duane Walker, Vietnam; George Eddy, Vietnam; and Bruce Boatman, Korea and Vietnam. Ginny Nutting, Mary Brandenburg, Faye Lubold, Renee Stewart and I awarded 4 quilts to members of one family: Kenneth Brown, WWII; Brian Wiggins, Gulf War; Carlton “Skeet” Wiggins, Vietnam; and Burton Adam, Vietnam, at their annual family reunion. One thing that makes this chapter so wonderful is the participation of our dedicated members as well as the continued support of the Friendship Quilters.
Left to right: Kenneth Brown, WWII, receiving quilt from Ginny Nutting; Carlton “Skeet” Wiggins, Vietnam, receiving from Renee Stewart; Brian Wiggins, Gulf War, from Faye Lubold; Burton Adams, Vietnam, from Mary Brandenburg.
On the National level, QOV has a new director and is undergoing changes that will facilitate the way we support our mission.
One of the new ideas to help address our backlog of quilt requests is the 2020 block drive. The 2020 QOV® block drive features a basic Nine Patch. The purpose of the National Block Drive is to give individuals or groups a way to participate by making blocks, and have their blocks used in QOVs made and awarded to our service members and veterans across the nation. The 9-patch block is versatile and can be assembled many ways into a QOV. They will be used by our State Coordinators to help fill outstanding requests not covered by local groups and will ease our national waiting list of requests from 2017 (627 requests) & 2018 (3,712 requests). How to participate: The deadline for this block drive is December 1, 2020. For more information go to the QOVF website: https://www.qovf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Block-drive-2020-Revision2-2019-0830.pdf . We can send these blocks away or use locally. As the award nominations keep coming in, we will need to have some kind of sewing bee this fall.
If you are working on a QOV and need fabric, please contact me and due to donations, there is no need for you to make a backing. We have backing fabric in different colors that will coordinate with any QOV top.
Next month will be the first anniversary of Bradford County Quilts of Valor. We have grown and learned a lot in our first year. More info on us in the next post.
Veterans could not have asked for nicer weather than the sunny 75 degree day for their annual Bradford County Veterans Appreciation Picnic. This picnic, which had been a tradition for years, was abandoned until three years ago when Pete Miller hired on as the new Veterans Outreach Coordinator. Reviving the picnic was one of his goals and it was a success again this year. Quilts of Valor volunteers took to the front of the group to award QOV’s to Willard “ Tom “ Blackall of Monroeton, a navy veteran of the Korean War, Wayne Gowin of Towanda, an army Vietnam Veteran, and William Snyder of Wyalusing, an army veteran of the Vietnam War. These quilts were special in that they were all made from the star blocks that were sewn and donated by the Friendship Quilters. The group of presenters all agreed that this is such a moving and meaningful experience for everyone involved. The presenters were joined by Tina Pickett, our state representative, who was happy to lend a hand to award quilts to these American heroes.
(Left to right) Veterans William Synder (Vietnam), Wayne Gowin (Vietnam), and Willard “ Tom “ Blackall (Korea), await their quilts. BCQOV volunteers in background.(left to right) BCQOV volunteers Carol Ullo, Ruth Clearwater, State Representative Tina Pickett, Sharon Sargeant, Eileen Hugo, Joan Woloshyn and Ginny Nutting pose while waiting for the ceremony.
Our next group of veterans to receive quilts will be at the Haight’s Pond VFW on July 13.
Bradford County Quilts of Valor 