CRESTVIEW — The community shows its appreciation for area military and their families Saturday with the annual Military Appreciation Recognition Celebration.
Held every Armed Forces Day, the midday event fills the Old Spanish Trail pavilion and nearby open areas and picnic shelter with food, music, static displays and recreation opportunities.
Though aimed squarely at members of the armed forces and their families, the event is open to any community supporter, MARC chairman Bob Lynn said.
“Ours is a military-family-oriented event but it’s open to anybody,” Lynn, one of the event’s founders, said.
Lynn said the private organizing committee is registered with the state as a charity non-profit and is not a city committee nor part of another organization.
“We are chartered to provide a one-day picnic at Spanish Trail Park for everyone in honor of our military and their families,” Lynn said.
SHOWING APPRECIATION
MARC’s founding tenets were simple, Lynn said. “We thought it would be good to show our appreciation for the sacrifices the military members and their families make for our freedom.”
Area businesses and individuals fund the celebration through contributions of money, supplies and equipment, Lynn said.
“We raise about $9,000 or $10,000 a year from the support from our local merchants,” he said.
“We are happy to have community and business involvement,” MARC member Rae Schwartz said. “Give us a call.”
Admission, activities, entertainment and food are free, the latter including a hotdog and hamburger cookout, Boy Scout cobbler—baked by the scouts in a cast-iron Dutch oven over hot coals—Pepsi products and lemonade and iced tea provided by the GFWC Crestview Woman’s Club.
CARS AND AIRCRAFT
Vintage cars, motorcycles and classic and more recent Ford Mustangs will be displayed. Exhibits include the U.S. Army Rangers’ snake display.
Bounce houses, static military displays, a Social Security Administration information table and a OneBlood blood drive are also planned.
The Emerald Coast Young Marines open the day’s events with a presentation of colors. Later they will stage a re-enactment of the World War II flag raising at Iwo Jima.
The Rev. Tyrone L. Broadus will deliver the invocation. As a soldier, he was captured in a famous photograph as he held an umbrella over the grieving Jackie Kennedy as she knelt at her slain husband, John F. Kennedy’s, grave at Arlington National Cemetery.
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter will perform a fly-by, then land.
Entertainment includes the Emerald Coast Community Band, an MIA-POW recognition by Liz Westby, and a taekwondo demonstration by Gordon Martial Arts.
Music also includes the Johnny Cash tribute group Jim Terrell and Family, and Johnny and Friends.
“Bring your own lawn chair!” Lynn said. “We don’t have seating.”
“We invite everyone to come out with us and let’s show everybody how much we support our military,” Lynn said.
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Admission, food, activities and entertainment are free.
WHERE: Old Spanish Trail Park, Industrial Drive near Stillwell Boulevard, Crestview.
PROGRAM
●10:30 a.m.: Flag raising, Crestview Fire Department and Public Works
●10:50: motorcycles and show cars arrive
●11: Emerald Coast Young Marines present colors
●11:05: National Anthem, Emerald Coast Community Band
●11:10: Invocation, Rev. Tyrone L. Broadus
●11:15: U.S. Coast Guard helicopter fly-by
●11:17: MIA/POW recognition, Liz Westby
●11:20: Welcome by Crestview Mayor David Cadle
●11:25: Emerald Coast Community Band performs
●Noon: Young Marines re-enact flag-raising over Iwo Jima
●12:10 p.m.: U.S. Army Ranger snake show
●12:55: Jim Terrell and Family Johnny Cash tribute
●1:40: Crestview Community Chorders perform
●2:10: Johnny and Friends perform
●2:35: Gordon Martial Arts demonstration
●3: Drawing for Masterbuilt gas smoker
MILITARY APPRECIATION RECOGNITION CELEBRATION
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview military appreciation celebration to include helicopter fly-by, free food, music
