The Portage County Veterans Services will be honoring all local veterans of the armed forces by hosting its first annual picnic on July 18 at Ravenna City Park at 165 Oakwood Street at 11 a.m.
“One of the big things we wanted to do was outreach to recognize our veterans, find our veterans and assist them in getting whatever benefits they have coming to them,” PCVS Executive Director Woody Truman told The Weekly Villager on June 26. “One of the better ways we could do it is to get together, set something up for all of these veterans to come, get together and celebrate.”
The PCVS’ first annual picnic will bring together all local veterans throughout Portage County and enjoy time with their fellow brothers in arms. The event also will be open to families of the veterans.
According to Assistant Director Mitchell Cialella, in the event of inclement weather, the PCVS’ picnic will still go on as planned as it will have the option of setting things up underneath either the Cunningham or Memorial Pavilions.
Cialella said that after the grand opening of the PCVS’ new office building last summer, it was inspired to host several holiday gatherings that allowed local veterans the chance for social activities.
He added that going into last summer’s grand opening, PCVS expected about 60 veterans to attend but 300 local veterans came to the grand opening. That number alone was more than enough proof for the PCVS that it needed to establish several annual holiday events that were open to all local veterans.
“I view this annual picnic as an extension as exactly that, following through on our act of being good stewards involving the community,” Cialella noted. “Not just for the veterans but having these events for the veterans and the families of survivors.”
Truman said that the first annual picnic is strictly a social gathering as there will be no guest speakers, and the day will be all about veterans bonding over shared experiences of their time serving in the armed forces.
In addition to the veterans and their families having the opportunity to come together, the picnic will also welcome families of deceased veterans, known as Gold Star Families.
“We are making sure that their families understand and are able to come out as well and a lot of their children get to play with the other children while they talk, mingle, and get to reminisce if you will about some of their experiences,” Cialella said.
Truman said that as much as the picnic is about celebrating the service of the local Portage County veterans, it functions as a reason for veterans to leave their houses, acknowledging that some of the veterans who visit the PCVS deal with social isolation.
“There are some individuals who do struggle with that,” acknowledged. “They struggle with anything related to the veteran’s affairs or the military. A lot of the Vietnam veterans, they prefer not to mention it or talk about it. Whatever experiences they had, they dealt with it and are trying to deal with it. They don’t like being it in the public forums with other veterans.”
Truman added that it is not always the case with each veteran, as the majority of the veterans that deal with the PCVS are socially active, so the picnic is just another social gathering they can attend to reflect upon their service to the United States.
The summer picnic marks the final holiday gathering on the calendar for the PCVS, which has already hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations in its first year in its new office building.
Truman said that the PCVS plans to ensure all three celebrations become an annual PCVS tradition.
Cialella also stressed that the summer picnic will change locations each year. Although the picnic is open to all veterans throughout Portage County, it may not be in close enough proximity for some veterans to make the trip. As the years go on, the picnic will be on the move, allowing veterans who only travel a certain distance to be afforded the opportunity to attend.
“We want to keep it dynamic so all veterans across Portage County at some point or another will be in close proximity to us and for us to celebrate those people,” he added.
