Military Month Programming at Grove Family Library | Compendium

Submitted by Joan Peiffer:

Chambersburg, May 2016:  The Grove Family Library, Chambersburg, PA will celebrate Salute to the Military during the month of May.  All programs are free and open to the public.

The library will have an Honor/Memorial Wall on display in the Community Room beginning May 6th and will be available to view during library hours throughout the month.  This wall features pictures of men and women in uniform who have served, or are currently serving in the United States Armed Forces.  We will continue to accept pictures to add to the wall throughout the month.

We are featuring a Purple Heart Display case, honoring those who have been awarded a Purple Heart.  This display includes information on the recipient, as well as some of the medals received and will be on display the entire month.

A local traveling memorial wall maintained by Tim Wright, “The Wall of Fallen Heroes” will be at Grove Family Library on May 6th from 9 AM to 1 PM and on May 26th from noon to 5 PM.  This wall features the names of each soldier from the mid-Atlantic states who has died in Iraq or Afghanistan.  Tim is a 33 year Army Vietnam Vet from Shippensburg who has made it his mission to ensure that this generation of fallen soldiers are honored and remembered.

We will honor military spouses on Military Spouse Appreciation Day, May 6th.  Military spouses (current and past) are invited to stop by the library and receive a small thank you gift from the library.  While here, they can also sign up for a prize drawing with the winner being announced at the end of the day.

Project Healing Waters will present a program at the library on May 11th, from 2 to 3 PM.  Representatives from our local unit will discuss Project Healing Waters mission to serve our country’s disabled active military service personnel and disabled veterans through fly fishing and associated activities. Plan to join us as we learn how the activities they offer help in the physical and emotional rehabilitation of our country’s disabled military service members.

The Ritchie Boys will be the topic of conversation on May 18th from 2 to 3:30 PM, as Becky Dietrich shares who they were, why their mission was so secret, and how they helped during World War II.  Becky was post historian at Fort Ritchie (as a volunteer) for two years when her husband (Col. Dan H Dietrich) was stationed there from 1970-72. Through her research, she was able to develop a historical program on the building of Fort Ritchie in 1926. In 2012, Becky was asked to speak at a symposium in Washington, DC, concerning the Ritchie Boys, as they had trained at Fort Ritchie. The Symposium was sponsored by the International Spy Museum, the National Park Service, the Holocaust Memorial Center and the OSS Society. Since then, Becky has been sharing their story

On May 24th, the community is invited to share in a “Cup of Joe”.  This program gives voice to service men and women who are in the military or have served in the military as they share their experiences.  We will also offer a short reading of the true story of a Kentucky soldier and a young girl he met while serving in the Philippines in World War II.  There will be several displays provided that day by some of the service members or families that are planning to speak.  This program will run from 9:30 to 11 AM in the Community Room. Coffee and other beverages will be served along with assorted sweets.

Our Step Back in Time program on May 31st will feature a re-enactor who portrays the father of Sgt Patrick Farrington who fought in the Battle of Antietam.  The program is based on letters found that Sgt Farrington had written home.  The program will begin at 5 PM with a bowl of campfire stew offered by Grove Family Library and conclude at 6:30 PM.

For more information, please phone 717-264-9663 or visit our Facebook Page