VFW Post 2214 honors outstanding citizens

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W.C. Mann

Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry, Hannah Jacobs, Connie Jacobs, Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs and VFW Post 2214 Commander Sam Bates

CULLMAN – Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 2214 held its annual awards dinner Thursday evening to honor outstanding citizens.  Volunteers had to bring out extra chairs and tables as the post building filled up with law enforcement and fire department personnel, city and county dignitaries, and of course veterans and their families.  Food was provided by Publix, and was served by post volunteers.

Post Commander Sam Bates explained, “This is for our Voice of Democracy (award), Patriot’s Pen, scouts, firefighter, EMT, teacher of the year and police officer.  Once a year we get to do this, and people seem to enjoy it.  All the VFWs do this, at different times of the month.  Everybody does it around this time of the year, before school ends for the summer.”

Honorees were nominated by their respective organizations or schools.  The Voice of Democracy award goes to a high school student defined by the VFW as “an outstanding spokesman for freedom,” and the Patriot’s Pen award goes to a middle school student who is “an outstanding spokesman for the future.”  The awards to scouts, teachers and emergency responders recognize outstanding community service and military/veterans advocacy.

Award winners

  • Voice of Democracy……………………………Austyn Reppond
  • Patriot’s Pen…………………………………….Kailey Carpenter
  • Teacher of the Year…………………………….Sandra Sandlin
  • Boy Scout of the Year………………………….Zachary Clayton
  • Girl Scout of the Year…………………………………Maya Harlow
  • Law Enforcement Officer of the Year………….Sheriff’s Deputy Todd Reynolds
  • Firefighter of the Year………………………….Jason Lamb
  • EMT of the Year……………………………….Charles Cornell
  • JROTC Cadet of the Year………………………CeCe Semadeni

The post also recognized Charlotte Bates, wife of the post commander, for her service to the post and for organizing the event.  It further recognized and gave roses to all the military/veterans’ spouses and mothers present.  Additionally, the post gave a plaque and its thanks to the personnel of Cullman’s Army National Guard Combined Support Base Shop 2 for its upkeep of the post’s display cannon and the tank displayed at Sportsman Lake Park.

Post Vice Commander Ken Brown is proud of his group.  He shared, “We’ve been the number one post in Alabama the last couple of years, and we’ve got the number one commander in Alabama.  We have an excellent program down here; we do a lot to help our fellow veterans, and we do a lot to give back to the community.  We’re real proud of our post, and we’d like to encourage some of the younger guys who’ve been to Afghanistan and Iraq to come out and get involved in our veterans’ programs.  It’s not just for old guys like me!”

For more information, or to get in touch with VFW Post 2214 in Cullman, visit www.facebook.com/cullmanVFWPost.

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