Veterans to receive quilts on fair’s final day
Eight members of the Wooster-Wayne D.A.R. Worked together to make this Quilt of Valor to be awarded to a veteran during the Honoring Our Patriots’s Service ceremony during the fair. Pictured are Lynne Smallstey, left, Jolene Dyer, Karen Futrell and Katy Wertz. Other D.A.R. quilters not pictured are Pat Arnold, Samaria Henry, Nancy Norton, and Kathern Gray.
For the second year, Honoring Our Patriots’ Service will present veterans with over 75 handmade quilts and afghans in a ceremony at 2 p.m. Sept. 15 in the Coliseum Cattle Barn at the Wayne County Fairgrounds.
In the inaugural ceremony held last year for the HOPS program, members presented over 50 quilts and one dog bed (for a service dog) to veterans of United States military services. The group will award quilts to three WWII veterans at this year’s ceremony.
Eight members of the Daughters of the American Revolution Wooster-Wayne chapter collaborated to generate a quilt for this year’s program, and the HOPS program founders hope that more organizations and individuals will contribute in the years to come.
The HOPS program was inspired by the Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOV), a national organization that has awarded over 318,400 quilts to veterans since its establishment in 2003.
According to the website (www.qovf.org), the idea of the foundation was born out of a dream QOV founder Catherine Roberts had while her son was deployed on active duty. In her dream, Roberts envisioned a haunted young man struggling to cope with the memories of war who then becomes enveloped in a quilt, providing comfort.
QOV was a collaborative effort from the beginning — the quilts are often pieced (the process of cutting and sewing the various fabrics together to generate a pattern or design on the quilt top) by one volunteer, assembled and then quilted.
The HOPS program was founded by the Tree City Quilters’ Guild of Wooster. Each year, the Tree City Quilters’ Guild set “challenges” for their members — a central theme that each quilter must interpret and follow while creating a quilt for the bi-annual quilt show.
The theme for the quilt show scheduled for April 2020 was “America the Beautiful” and a challenge was set for the members to create a quilt for the QOV Foundation. Unfortunately, the quilt show was canceled that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tree City Quilters’ Guild members had generated around 30 quilts for QOV, but the presentation of those quilts to veterans was put on hold during the global pandemic.
Jeri Fickes had watched a program honoring veterans at the Stark County Fair. Operation Fostering Freedom is a program that honors Stark County veterans with a quilt, crocheted or knitted afghan, or comforter in a ceremony held at the Stark County Fair.
She wanted to bring a similar program to Wayne County. Fickes and Vicky Hartzler consulted with Tim Ross, a Stark County Fair Board member who helped bring Operation Fostering Freedom to fruition. TCQ members Betty Boreman, Fickes and Hartzler proposed their idea for HOPS to the Wayne County Fair Board, and HOPS was officially established as a collaborative program between the Tree City Quilters’ Guild and the Wayne County Fair Board.
During the first HOPS presentation ceremony in 2021, members of the Tree City Quilters’ Guild presented 54 quilts and a dog bed to veterans and a service dog in a moving ceremony held at the Wayne County Fairgrounds. This year, members of the public have been encouraged to participate in the HOPS program by generating quilts, afghans, comforters/blankets or dog beds.
Specific requirements for the quilts and other items, including dimensions, colors and types of items accepted, can be found in Section 117 of the 2022 Fair Book. In order to encourage participation from the public, the Wayne County Fair Board has waived the premium membership fee and entry limits for this section.
Members of the public are also encouraged to nominate veterans for the HOPS program. Any veteran who is a resident of Wayne County is eligible to be nominated. For more information on the program or to nominate a veteran, please contact the HOPS program via email HOPSWooster@gmail.com.
All of the quilts and other items to be awarded this year will be on display at the Grange Rotunda at the Wayne County Fairgrounds until noon Thursday, Sept. 15, at which time they will be removed from the display to be prepared to give to the veteran honorees. The program will be hosted by Greg Long, a recipient of a HOPS quilt in 2021, and will include musical performances by Russ and Carole Norris. Guest speaker this year is Tom Ballinger.
Everyone is welcome to attend and join the HOPS program in honoring and celebrating veterans in our community and thanking them for their service.