After roughly a year of planning, The Village Quilters took time to thank those within their own ranks for serving the country.
As part of the Quilts of Valor program, through which quilts are presented to veterans and active-duty service men and women, the Village group made a special presentation to nine guild members Oct. 13.
“We’ve been chatting about it probably since last year,” Arliss Barber, QOV chairwoman, said. “The timing just didn’t work out for what we wanted to do. We do monthly programs, and we decided that October would be the time to do that. We worked on this year identifying who in our guild was a veteran, and we put the quilts together and put a program together.”
Those honored were retired U.S. Army Col. Lee Ann Adams, U.S. Navy Lt. j.g. Anita Chaisty, retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Karen Forsyth, U.S. Air Force Capt. Charlcie Ford, retired USAF Maj. Janice Irving, retired U.S. Navy Capt. Anne Kambic, retired USAF Reserves Sr. Sgt. Maj. Judith Kubesh, U.S. Navy Reserves Petty Officer First Class Diane Tosh and retired USAF Maj. Shelia Uphoff.
Quilts were presented to Chaisty, Forsyth, Uphoff and Tosh. Others had previously received Quilts of Valor and instead received a certificate of appreciation gift.
“It is a great way to say thank you for their service to our country,” Barber said. “... They kind of are guarding our gates so to speak, taking care of our country.”
Uphoff called the recognition an “honor.”
“It was very humbling, just words cannot explain it,” she said. “Very honored.”
Being surrounded by other veterans during the ceremony only made the reception more special.
“When you’re in the military, you’re in a family, and that never ceases,” Uphoff said.
The quilters polled those within the guild to find out who had served and in what capacity, which came as an initial surprise to Uphoff.
Uphoff had not participated in the Quilts of Valor program but has contributed to other charitable quilt projects within the guild.
“I never felt that I had the skills and talent that those ladies have making those quilts,” she said.
Even without participating herself, Uphoff feels strongly about the impact of the program.
“In a previous environment where the military was not treated very well, this is a great honor for (veterans),” Uphoff said. “... It’s very hard to describe the pride and the gratitude that one has receiving that. Not everybody gets them.”
Barber was happy with the “enthusiastic” response of guild members who were part of the presentation, which highlighted that at times people aren’t aware of the service of those around them.
“Sometimes even when we’re awarding a Quilt of Valor to one veteran that’s within a group I know some of these other people must be veterans,” Barber said. “We can only do one at a time and work toward thanking all of these veterans with a Quilt of Valor.”
Rita Hollenbacher, guild president, called the Quilts of Valor program a significant part of the overall community service commitment of the quilters.
The guild has given more than 650 quilts to charities in Loudon and Monroe counties in 2017 alone, with “about 50” Quilts of Valor.
More than 4,000 quilts have been given in the guild’s 21-year existence and that number is growing faster each year.
“I think before the year is out I think I’m safe in saying we’re going to hit the 800 number. That is just an amazing number of quilts for one year,” Hollenbacher said. “The group works hard. ... The work is done by many people. One quilt may be touched by 15 people, which is really interesting.”
Quilts of Valor started in 2003 to provide quilts to veterans and active-duty military as a thank you for service and has been active in Tellico Village since 2009. For more information, visit https://www.qovf.org/.
For more information on the Village Quilters, visit http://www.villagequilters.com/.
