Rotary Club to host veterans appreciation dinner Nov. 9

All local veterans are invited to come have dinner courtesy of the Gilmer County Rotary Club this Thursday. 

The Rotary Club’s annual veterans appreciation dinner will take place Thursday, Nov 9, 6 p.m., at the Ellijay First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, 164 Dalton Street.

Charlie Pults, veterans dinner organizer and Rotary Club member, said this will be the 13th time that local Rotarians have teamed up to present the pre-Veterans Day dinner, which was sidelined in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We were disappointed we weren’t able to do it then, but we started it back last year,” said Pults. “It’s free. It’s open to all veterans and their spouse or a family member/guest. We’ve got some of the same folks who’ve been coming for years. We normally feed about 220 people, and we’ll be able to feed whoever shows up.”

In addition to dinner, there will also be an honorary program that will include a performance by a vocal trio from the Gilmer High School Chorus, noted Pults.

“We are happy that they’re going to be doing several patriotic songs like ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ for us,” he added. 

The evening will also feature a silent auction sponsored by the Ellijay Marines Toys for Tots campaign. Pults said proceeds from the auction will benefit both the local Toys for Tots effort and the Rotary Club. 

A.J. LeCompte, Gilmer Toys for Tots coordinator, said the Christmas outreach program helped 1,742 Gilmer County children last year, and the team expects to help even more this year.

Pults said the veterans appreciation dinner started as a smaller event, which was first held at what’s now the Piedmont Community Center. For several years, it was sponsored by North Georgia Medical Center, which ceased operations in 2016. Since then, several other businesses, including Amicalola EMC and Bill Holt Chevrolet, have helped the club continue holding the special event, Pults noted. 

“Our costs have gone up, so having them donate helps greatly. First Baptist Church has also been very gracious to allow us to do this. It quickly outgrew where we first started, and we’ve been doing it (at First Baptist) ever since,” he added.