Community Rallies Around Inaugural Salute to Service Event

We asked local co-sponsors Jim Justice (Chester Street Tavern) and “Skip” Rogers (Able Forces Foundation) for a perspective on their initial Salute to Service Memorial Day weekend event. It was a musically-anchored event in the Gazebo Village Commons Park area downtown, with a “hard opening” at 1 p.m. that gave Rogers time to return from his participation in the wreath laying at Malcolm Barr Sr.’s noon-launched Dog of War Garden ceremony at the Humane Society of Warren County Julia Wagner Animal Shelter.

“Our Inaugural Memorial Day ‘Salute To Service’ was an incredible day filled with remembrance of fallen heroes, community support, incredible music and food, and tremendous memories of being together with friends and family,” Rogers replied, adding a heartfelt, “God Bless all who participated and supported this wonderful community event for Front Royal. We look forward to next year”.

As do we, Skip, as do we.

Lay Minister Michael Williams gives his second benediction of the day during the 1 p.m. hard opening of Salute to Service, having done the same at the Dogs of War Memorial service at noon, as co-sponsor ‘Skip’ Rogers listens to right. Below, Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter Sam Tate jams with friends Sunny Lane and the Dirty Hippies.

Co-sponsor Jim Justice of The Chester Street Tavern, which served as a musical staging and jamming area across from the park, asked that we acknowledge the full complement of sponsoring agencies, businesses, musicians, exhibitors, vendors, and individuals that made the above-described “community event” possible. We replied that if he had gone to the trouble to list them all, we would do our best to oblige. So, here they are:

“Our veteran support foundations: Skip and Kathy Rogers of Able Forces Foundation, and Chris Jacobson and team of Farmer Veteran Coalition.

“Our primary sponsors, including musicians: Sam Tate, The Hobo Mariners, Sunny Lane and the Dirty Hippies, Sally Mae Foster; and Gysea Soul; along with Moose Lodge, 4Js Farm and Brewery, Thru w/Therapy, Quecon Inc., Passage Creek Rising, Buckhead Farm, The Giving Tree, National Media Services.

Sam Tate did some solo performing Friday evening in co-sponsor Jim Justice’s Chester St. Tavern. Below, Tate with co-sponsors Rogers and Justice. ‘I hope tomorrow is as great as tonight,’ Tate told his audience at the end of his stellar Friday evening indoor presentation of his award-winning material.

“Exhibitors: the American Legion, Sons of the Revolutionary War, Honor Flight Top of Virginia, Virginia Department of Veteran Services; and our two veteran food vendors; brothers Rick Gardner (Carolina Dreamin) and Tim Gardner (Firestorm Pizza)

“To the contributing volunteers of Chester Street Tavern, including Deb Moyer, Suzanne Obetz, Hank Gorecki, and Shaireese Fletcher.

“Other local sponsors included: the Virginia Beer Museum, Malcolm Barr, Glenn Wood, Key Move Properties, and Farm Bureau Virginia, Royal Examiner, The River 95.3.

“And lest we forget the town staff, including Lizi Lewis, Scott Curry, and our local law enforcement officers,” Justice almost concluded. – Uh oh, do we really want to include this last one?!? – Well, he’ll probably write something bad about us if we edit him out, so why not? “And lastly, to our media master Roger Bianchini,” Justice finished with a nod our way.

Hey, just doing my job in alerting this community to what appeared to be, and was, an outstanding addition to Front Royal and Warren County’s Memorial Day weekend celebration, with a nod to our associate Malcolm Barr Sr. and his related story’s acknowledged co-conspirators Marine Lt. Col. Rob MacDougall, Able Forces “Skip” Rogers, among others in this community.

And a few more musical shots from the “Salute to Service” inaugural offering in memory of, not only our nation and community’s fallen soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice, but also those who survived and mourn those lost. Bless them all.

‘Captain Rich’ and Michelle of the Hobo Mariners helped keep the entertainment rolling as a Veterans Bikers club rolled in early in the afternoon.

And to make their point, Sunny Lane and the Dirty Hippies’ on their own, did an outstanding version of the Mama & Papas hippie-era song, ‘California Dreaming’ on such (a dirty hippies) winter’s night.’