Rowan County Veterans' Foundation

As we prepare to celebrate Veteran's Day and show our gratitude for the service of countless brave men and women, it’s also important to recognize the work our veterans are doing here at home and to support them. The Rowan County Veterans’ Foundation is one organization that does many projects throughout our community, including managing Freedom Park, the Veteran’s Museum, the Memorial Day parade and ceremony, and their annual Veterans’ Day essay contest.

The Veterans’ Foundation was established in 2000 for citizens to be able to donate directly to their projects such as Freedom Park, its wall, and the Veterans’ Museum. As a nonsocial organization, it’s different in nature from the American Legion, although both proudly share many of the same members. Any veterans in Rowan County can apply for membership. They appreciate remarkable support from our community.

In their annual Veterans’ Day Essay Contest, the Veterans’ Foundation encourages youth in our schools to write about important topics relating to the holiday and its impactful meaning. Last year, over 960 students in our county participated in the contest. The Veteran's Foundation coordinates schools’ Veteran's Day programs as well.

Their memorial wall in Freedom Park, established in 2002, is a very important effort of theirs to recognize our local veterans. This is a major undertaking; it costs $5K and requires 84 names to make one section of the wall. There are currently over 3,000 total. Near the back of Freedom Park, you can also visit the Rowan County Veteran's Museum, a free to the public effort to educate our community, preserve military artifacts, and honor the history of our veterans.

The Veteran's Museum is a great resource, with rooms full of diverse artifacts organized by conflict, including uniforms, replica weapons, authentic documents, and much more. Some of the highlights include a handwritten officer's log from the attack on Pearl Harbor and a WWI McClellan saddle. The next page shows some pictures of the museum and its exhibits. They also provide a bookshelf full of military and US history books on many different conflicts and issues, as well as some video tapes and other related educational resources you can check out and return. Additionally, they have a display in the Courthouse that is updated with different artifacts periodically.

We recognize the amazing work the Rowan County Veteran's Foundation puts into maintaining these projects for our community. To all veterans, we thank you for your service.

Board

Scott Barker- President

Larry Law- Vice President

Danny Knipp- Treasurer

Mike Mackin- Secretary