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The Troutville Sunshine Girls will host their 15th Veterans Day program and lunch on Monday, November 11, at 11 a.m. at the Troutville Town Hall.
The Sunshine Girls’ first program was held in 2009 with 12 WWII veterans in attendance. The veterans said they had never been to a program before and that’s when the Sunshine Girls decided to make it an annual event.
“We started this 15 years ago when we met several veterans and got the idea from my sister-in-law in New York who does a program; since then, several schools started honoring veterans here and we think it’s great that the idea caught on,” Sunshine Girl Lee Henry said of the event.
Through the years, the Sunshine Girls have bonded with this group of veterans with home visits, sending birthday cards and homemade Valentines. In recent years a few of the veterans’ stories have been published in The Herald from interviews by the Sunshine Girls.
This year the Sunshine Girls have been saddened by the loss of several veterans in the county. The group of veterans has become much smaller and seats are available for the event this year. If you know of a veteran who would like to attend the program and lunch, call 540-819-6335.
~ Fincastle Herald staff report
