VETERANS CELEBRATED UCA to host community tailgate event for veterans

RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — Veterans have been honored for the past 11 years at the University of Central Arkansas, but this year the celebration is being kicked up a few notches.

Melanie Epperson, president of the UCA Staff Senate, said, “We usually have, in years past, just had a ceremony, about 30 to 45 minutes, maybe an hour, and it just to me didn’t seem like enough. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but I just felt like we could do more.”

So, more is what they’re doing.

The 12th annual celebration will be heldfrom noon to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Veterans Day, in the parking lot north of Estes Stadium with a community-tailgate theme.

“The community has always been invited in the past, just didn’t show up in big numbers, just mainly veterans who heard about it, so we really wanted to involved the community more so. The veterans here, we know who we are, and we thank each other, but it’s better when it comes from the community, with the parents and children,” Epperson said. “We wanted to involve the younger generation.”

Epperson, an Air Force veteran, and Jeff Scarborough of Conway, a former U.S. Marine, have planned a ramped-up version of this year’s event.There will be a Most Patriotic contest for registered student organizations, she said. There will be a rock-climbing wall, vendor booths, including the military recruiters with their gadgets.

“They have the most fun toys,” she said with a laugh, including a “little jet you can sit in and it goes. Kids love it. They’re trying to get everything they can to make it a carnival atmosphere.”

There will be vendor booths, and some restaurants will participate.

“It’s just like a normal tailgate - if you see something you want, you can have some of it,” Epperson said of the food.

“If anybody wants to set up a booth, groups, organizations, businesses, we have a couple of spots left,” she added.

There will be live music from The Bitter Harvest, a band made up of Marines, and from 2-3 p.m., the official ceremony to honor veterans will be held. Also, a bagpiper group, many of them veterans, in full Scottish regalia will perform, Epperson said.

The guest speaker will be retired Army Maj. Gen. Craig Whelden of Florida.

Something unique for UCA and Arkansas is a community covenant that will be signed by those in attendance to show support for the veterans. It will be presented by the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce.

Scarborough said the covenant “is the first of its kind in Arkansas. It reflects UCA and Faulkner County’s dedication and commitment to those who have served and those who are serving.”

“The Veterans Day event UCA is hosting is of great importance as it shows UCA’s commitment to its student veterans and the community ingeneral,” he added.

Epperson said she will consider the day a success if there is “a lot of community support for the men and women who sacrificed so much for their country.”

For more information, e-mail Epperson at mepperson@uca.edu or Scarborough at jeffscar1@aol.com.

- tkeith@ arkansasonline.com

River Valley Ozark, Pages 143 on 11/08/2009

Print Headline: VETERANS CELEBRATED UCA to host community tailgate event for veterans