Veteran Outreach Day

Veterans Corner

Shellie Shaw

Veteran Outreach Day will be at the Taylor County Fairgrounds Saturday, August 28th from 9 am – 3 pm. All are welcome to join us to recognize our women veterans, and to make all veterans feel appreciated.

We will begin with a Recognition Ceremony at 9:00 am in the Grandstands with the Medford American Legion Post #147 and Medford VFW Post #5729 presenting the colors. Our speaker is WDVA Secretary, Mary M. Kolar. We will be honoring women veterans and will present each woman veteran with a commemorative coin.

Around 10 am, the Huey helicopter will land and serve as a static display only (sorry - no rides this year). Also on display will be a PLS (palletized load system) truck from our area National Guard unit, and a military jeep.

Following the Recognition Ceremony, we will have the benefit and job fair starting at 10 am through 1 pm. Many services from the Tomah VA Medical Center, to include a VA Whole Health services presentation and a COVID vaccine clinic. Local employers, veteran service organizations, end-of-life services, education benefits, and many more vendors will be present. To accommodate the large number of vendors, some will be in buildings and others will be under tents. The Taylor County Historical Museum will be open and there will be an exhibit from the Wisconsin State Veteran’s Museum. Several items have been donated for raffle to us; many of them donated by local veteran business owners. We will also have T-shirts for sale for $12 (kid sizes) and $15 (adult sizes).

Around 11am the Welcome Home Celebration will start with food from Marilyn’s Catering and the VFW providing burgers, brats, and beverages. You can play a game of corn hole or washer toss, or just relax and listen to live music by Red Higgins and the Freedom Train Band.

We would like to thank the following for their generous donations: Brute Force USA, Medford VFW Auxiliary, Sierra Pacific, United Healthcare, Taylor County Sportsman’s Club, Peterson Concrete, Hedlund’s Agency, Lawrence Restaurants, Perrin’s Surface Solutions, Klingbeil Lumber Co, Brunner Well Drilling, Cindy’s Bar and Grill, Huotari Construction, Taylor Credit Union, and Fifth Avenue Consignment Shop and, People’s Choice Credit Union. We also want to thank the following for the raffle items donated for our event: Grandpa’s Meat Market, Medford Cooperative, Narly Wood, Knives by Ron Oberley, Warrior Awards, Tumble Me Timber, Ame High Fire Poker, and Hartl Metals.

Shellie Shaw, Taylor County Veteran Service Officer