Every time I see the news I am reminded how blessed we are
to live in one of the greatest communities in America. But I am also reminded that we must not take
this for granted. It is so important that we as a community continue to support
each other and give back, and there isn’t much that better demonstrates Cary
citizens doing exactly that than some of the recent events in town.
Cary hosted two Veterans Day events to pay tribute to and
thank our veterans and their families for their sacrifice and service to our
great nation - the 2017 Veterans Luncheon at the Herb Young Community Center
and Veterans Day Observance Ceremonies at Veterans Freedom Park. Both events
are always well attended.
At the luncheon our veterans and their families are treated
to a patriotic program, lunch and musical entertainment. One of the more
popular parts of the program is when the band plays the service songs of all
the military branches and veterans from each branch stand and wave flags
when their song is played. Their might even be a little competition
between the service members of the different branches 😉
Thanks so much to the dozens of volunteers and Town of Cary employees who,
without for them the event would not be possible; and special thanks to The Cary Town Band and the Cary Christian School Chamber Choir who did an amazing
job – seriously, if you haven’t heard the these two perform together you’re
missing out. Well done!
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| 2017 Veterans Day Luncheon |
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| The Cary Town Band and the Cary Christian School Concert Choir |
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| Council Member and US Army Veteran Jack Smith |
The Veterans Day Observance Ceremony at Veterans Freedom
Park featured speakers from both the town and local armed forces community
support groups. The Old North State Band provided musical entertainment and
Carolina Veterans Support Group provided a field of flags that folks could
sponsor. Little toy soldiers were provided for citizens to write a soldier's
name on and place in the memorial as a way to honor those who have served in
the armed forces. These soldiers will be saved and placed in the monument every
Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
And on a related note, back in September The Herb Young
Community Center hosted the Veteran's Benefits Action Center. The Cary program
in partnership with Veteran’s Affairs, allows eligible veterans and dependents
a unique opportunity to be assisted by a team that includes Veteran’s
Organization Service Officers, Department of Veteran’s Affairs, benefits
officials and healthcare representatives.
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| Veterans Freedom Park |
Cary Unity Walk
The Cary Unity Walk is an event to celebrate citizens
working together to support local first responders and create a safe, unified,
and nurturing community for our youth and our future. Produced by Fit and AbleProductions, nearly 300 people walked with Cary Police officers, firefighters
and EMS personnel from Downtown Cary to WakeMed Soccer Park. Following the walk
was a 5K/10K race which also featured kids games by Special Olympics North
Carolina, performances by LA Dance, a fly-over by the Bandit Flight Team, the
national anthem by the USO, and representatives from every branch of the
military.
Finding ways in which our citizens can
connect with our first responders is so important, and I am so very proud
of the fine folks at Fit and Able and our citizens for making this a priority.
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| Cary Unity Walk Opening Ceremonies |
Hometown Spirit Award
Cary’s Hometown Spirit Award is bestowed annually on a Cary
resident who enhances the quality of life in Cary by preserving, promoting and
carrying out positive and quantifiable traditional small-town community values
and traits.
Nine outstanding Cary residents were nominated this year by
their peers. Nominees were recognized and honored at a reception at the Page
Walker Hotel prior to our council meeting where last year’s Hometown Spirit
Award Winner, Sheila Ogle along with Mayor Harold Weinbrecht opened the super
top-secret envelope to reveal that this year’s award winner is, drumroll
please…, Ralph and Daphne Ashworth!
For 60 years Ralph and Daphne Ashworth have been very
involved in both Cary’s business and philanthropic community giving time and
treasure to make Cary a better place. Their list of contributions is long –
real long – like there isn’t enough room on this blog to list it all long; and
chances are that if you’ve lived in Cary for any length of time you are familiar
with the many wonderful contributions the Ashworths have made to our community
– they are legends. If not, I’d encourage you to learn more about them here,
here and here.
We are forever grateful for their lifetime of service. Cary
is literally a better place because of Ralph and Daphne Ashworth and their
family.
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| Ralph Ashworth accepting the 2017 Cary Hometown Spirit Award |
Meeting Place Park
At our most recent council meeting we changed the name of Meeting
Place Park in Downtown Cary to Kay Struffolino Park to honor Kay for her over
40 years of service and volunteerism to Cary.
Cary’s 2010 Hometown Spirit Award Winner, Kay has
dedicated her life to making Cary a better place. She has adopted two parks to
maintain, has donated thousands of hours and dollars to beautify Cary’s parks
and greenways, and has served on numerous boards, committees, and task forces. Kay’s
fingerprints are all over Cary.
Kay is one of Cary’s greatest citizens and an inspiration to
everyone. It is because of her selfless commitment to all things Cary that we
renamed this park in her honor.
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| Renaming Meeting Place Park to Kay Struffolino Park. |
In closing, I mentioned earlier how blessed we are to live
in Cary – but just to be clear “blessed” doesn’t mean “lucky”. Cary clearly didn’t
become one of the greatest places to live in America by accident. We have YOU,
our amazing citizens to thank for that. So keep doing what you’re doing and if
there is ever anything that we at the town can do to help you help us, please
let us know!
I am so thankful for each and every one of you! Happy
Thanksgiving!
