July 2nd before the historical reenactment at the Parsons Depot, there was a Quilt of Valor presentation. A Quilt of Valor was presented to local veteran Justin Vandevender. Debbie Stevens made the presentation on behalf of the organization. Vandevender had been nominated a couple of years ago, but Stevens said that it can take a few years for nominees to receive their quilts. According to Stevens, the organization has distributed 447,658 quilts as of May 31, 2026 and 11,679 in 2026 alone. Quilts of Valor was founded in 2003 by Catherine Roberts when her son was deployed in Iraq. To nominate a service member of living veteran or for more information on Quilts of Valor go to qovf.org.
