Attention all United States military veterans and their families.
The return of the Veteran’s Appreciation Reception is on the schedule to come back this year, set to be held on Sunday, November 6 at the Slidell Municipal Auditorium.
Slidell businessman Chuck Sabadie, undoubtedly one of the biggest supporters in Slidell of United States veterans, started this event a number of years ago. After being shut down a couple of years by COVID, it is coming back with an awesome event again a week from Sunday, beginning at 1 p.m.
It is a free outing for veterans and their families, offering a wonderful day of thanks for the service they provided, that includes an incredible array of food from area restaurants and sponsors, as well as a program that will include inspirational speakers and special events. There will also be music by the St. Luke-Northshore Regional Knights of Columbus Chorus.
The program will begin at 2 p.m. and is highlighted by Col. William Gallagher, U.S. Army Retired, as the guest speaker. He was an Airborne Ranger and was a recipient of the Bronze Star.
East St. Tammany Habitat Director Kentrell Jones will talk about the Veterans Build program through Habitat, while other special presentations will include George Renaker discussing the Vets Way Home project, Wreaths Across America information from Darlene Graves, and Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery Director Danielle Palen with important information for vets.
Chuck is a good friend of mine and has always had my respect for his expertise and friendship as a financial services expert, but I’ve also admired his commitment to our community in so many other ways through his local business Elder Care, LLC, which he operates in Slidell along with partner Jay Badeaux.
They have always done anything possible to show appreciation and support for veterans and the annual reception is just one more way they try to say “thanks” to all military servicemen and women.
Pass the word about the afternoon lunch and program for veterans and their families. It’s a great time for all who come, and you will not regret being part of a wonderful event.
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Speaking of veterans, The Slidell Independent publishes an annual special section to honor all veterans, always coming out sometime right around Veteran’s Day each year. We will publish the section on Thursday, Nov. 10 this year, with Veteran’s Day being celebrated in 2022 on Nov. 11.
I always look for great stories on local veterans and feature at least one individual in the section, but this year we’ve got something very different.
I was manning The Slidell Independent table at the Chamber Business Expo in September and a woman came by to talk to me. Her name was Susan Gallo and she began telling me about her father, Bill Bailey, who years ago began writing stories about wars, veterans and the military in general.
That led to something else quite unusual. He had such a fascination with fighter pilots that he began to seek out those who flew in World War II. Bill was interested in getting autographed pictures of the aces, and after figuring out how to find them, he got on such a roll that he began to make other connections.
After getting many autographed pictures from U.S. fighter pilots he began to write to pilots from Britain, Japan, Germany and other countries. Surprisingly, he was able to track them down, along with other interesting people who were in wars. Not only did he continue to get autographed pictures, but he made longtime friendships, and has received incredible memorabilia of different kinds.
His work led him to those who had been around Adolph Hitler, even at his death—so for now, that will be all of the story I will tell you.
The section, with Bill’s story and some amazing pictures, will be in our Nov. 10 edition so make sure to check it out. He is an interesting man who served in the U.S. Navy before finding another intriguing hobby that he continues until this day.
If you are an individual or operate a business and would like a paid advertising spot in the section to give your own thanks to our veterans, we are still accepting ads for the publication. E-mail me to get a rate sheet if you would like a spot. (My e-mail is at the end of this column.)
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One more note about helping veterans….the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery is still seeking volunteers to help with their “Wreaths Across America” program that will be held at the Slidell cemetery on Saturday, Dec. 17.
They can use help of all kinds since they will be putting a wreath on more than 2,900 tombstones and gravesites for all the veterans buried at the cemetery, all part of a nice program that day.
If you, or your organization, would like to help, call Director Danielle Palen at 985-646-6458.
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at kevinchiri@gmail.com.