ASHLAND — Ashland’s annual Veterans Appreciation Day celebration will return on Aug. 10 this year.
There is a special focus this year on making the event one for the entire community to enjoy, according to event organizers Sandy Burkholder and Tim Chandler.
Chandler, also a veteran, said the event’s planners chose that focus for a reason this year.
“A lot of people, including myself as a young veteran, don’t realize that when that veteran deploys, the spouse or whoever’s behind has to fulfill that role in the family as well,” Chandler said.
“So, they take a great burden upon themselves, plus worrying about that person that’s deployed, so it’s time to honor the family for standing behind the veteran, as well as the veteran.”
The event will feature a guest speaker (who’s to be determined), a free lunch and musical performances.
It will also have several veteran service organizations — and will continue offering free haircuts to veterans.
Chandler noted there will be several military vehicles present, too.
New attractions
But there will also be new aspects as well.
Burkholder, the event’s new chair this year, said they tried to bring attractions that would draw in the family.
That includes a “foam bash,” bounce house, face painting and wood projects for children.
For women, Burkholder said, the Ashland YMCA will offer fitness and nutrition tips.
Attendees will have the chance to fly in a Huey helicopter, which were widely used during the Vietnam War, or participate in a Jeep ride. Jeep rides are free, but Chandler said the Huey rides will cost $125 for the public, or $115 for veterans.
Plus, the annual fireworks show has changed to a drone show this year. Chandler said the idea to switch came from an event at the Mansfield-Lahm airport last year.
“One of the reasons we went with the drones is, being a veteran myself and everything, the fireworks are cool, but fireworks come with really loud booms,” Chandler said. “A lot of veterans don’t care to hear those really loud booms anymore.”
A drone show, he explained, features several hundred drones with lights on them. They fly in the air and can form pictures and words. The show on Veterans Appreciation Day will last anywhere from 12 to 15 minutes, according to Chandler. That length depends on the battery life of the drones, he said.
The hope is, with the drone show, more veterans will come out for the event’s finale, too.
Lifetime of service
Chandler and Burkholder said it takes a year to organize Veterans Appreciation Day, and it comes with a hefty price tag, more than $50,000 total. That total is paid via donations.
Burkholder said her sons were in the Marines, and their service gave her a whole new respect for the men and women who serve.
For Chandler, service is personal too, and it lasts a lifetime.
“When you sign up, like they say, you signed a blank check up to and including your life,” Chandler said. “You’re not afraid to fight and give it all, and that never expires.
“I mean, even once we’re out and take the uniform off, we’ll be the first ones to pick up arms and go defend (our country) again.”
Event schedule
This year’s event will take place at the Ashland County Airport on August 10. Gates will open at 11 a.m.
Below is a full schedule of the day’s events:
- 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. — Huey helicopter rides
- 1 to 2:45 p.m. — Lincoln Highway Blue Grass
- 3 to 3:30 p.m. — General Patton, as portrayed by Ken Hammontree
- 3:30 to 5 p.m. — Phil Dirt & the Dozers
- 6 to 9 p.m. — Disco Inferno
- 9:30 p.m. — Drone show