Happy New Year to all of our members and friends of the Heritage League. I am hopeful for a better 2021.
Like everything in 2020, the Heritage League had to be creative on how we would have our annual meeting. Instead of traveling to Memphis in October, we held our very first virtual Zoom meeting on October 3rd. I have to say I was a little nervous but after it started, I was so happy to see all the new and familiar faces. It felt like a family party. My favorite part was the Veteran panel. We hope to do more of those in the future. For all of those who joined, thank you for allowing us to be a part of your Saturday afternoon. A special thanks to all of our friends in the UK who joined.
Our 2021 Membership drive has started. By now you have received our Christmas membeship letter with all the information. How did you like the bookmark? Thanks to Brian Mahoney for designing and printing. You will find another membership form in this Herald. Speaking of membership, you will find a story in this Herald on how Veteran Bob Birmingham (458th) got his whole family to join the Heritage League. He is a big inspiration and I hope we all encourage our family and friends to join our mission.
One thing to note: for 2021 only– we replaced our Flower fund with a new project we started. Our project– News from the Greatest Generation– will allow us to create online, searchable versions of past newsletters from the individual Bomb and fighter groups that were part of the 2nd Air Division. The proceeds from our ‘Giving Tuesday’ fundraiser last November will go to this project and it was a big success thanks to all of you. We raised over $4,145 which was matched 10% by a generous donor.
The Flower fund is currently well funded as no placements occurred last year. We are hoping to sponsor wreaths this year but time will tell if COVID related cemetery restrictions are lifted. Flower fund donations will return on our Membership form in 2022. If you are interested in contributing to the flower fund now, you can find it on our website- https://heritageleague.org/donate/
All of your donations are greatly appreciated. Thank you to everyone who has been so generous. We are grateful and could not do this without your support.
We are still planning to join the 8thAFHS in Savannah this year October 27- 31 if everything is better by then. We will pass on information as soon as we can.
We wish everyone a safe and healthy year. We hope you will take some time to take care of yourself, check up on your family and friends but especially check on our Veterans.
Finally…. our lives are filled with busy moments and events. Take some time to remember a Veteran and thank them for their service. It will mean the world to them.
Marybeth Dyer