The Board of the 33rd District Agricultural Association is partnering with the Pinnacle Quilters of San Benito County to celebrate the service of former military personnel.
The Quilts of Honor program will provide hand-crafted patriotic quilts to 26 veterans during a ceremony to be held at 9:30 a.m. in the CalVista Junior Livestock Arena on Saturday, Oct. 3. The activity takes place just prior to the start of the auction that morning and will conclude with the singing of the national anthem.
Mandy Schneider is involved with the Pinnacle Quilters and Fair’s quilting exhibits. She, along with quilting department chair Sheila Galindo and co-chair Irene Towler approached Fair Manager Donnette Carter about bringing Quilts of Honor to the County Fair.
Schneider commented, “Military service veterans have put their lives on the line for our freedom, and we wanted to do something to say thank you. The members of our club have been working diligently to hand-craft these quilts, which will be presented to them during the ceremony. We hope to see this become an annual event for the fair.”
Opening the ceremony will be the presentation of colors by the local VFW under the direction of Bernie Ramirez, to be followed by the presentation of quilts with the reading of each veteran’s name, military branch, and time of service. The general public is invited to view the ceremony while attending the fair.
On this Military Appreciation Day, all active and former military will receive free admission to the fair with proper identification.