There are three quilting groups in our park and these women sew and create every weekday all winter long. Some women even belong to all three groups.

One of these groups is called The Patriotic Quilters. These gals work year round on quilts to honour the veterans in our park. Whatever quilts aren’t completed for the season, they take home for the summer and get them finished in time for presentation at a Veterans Day service in our park the following November.

Any veteran who hasn’t received a quilt submits his/her name and then a random draw takes place. As each veteran comes up to choose his/her quilt, the emcee reads off the details of their service and thanks them. It’s a very moving ceremony.

With each year, there are new veterans who come to the park for the winter. The quilting group has even made quilts with a Canadian colour scheme, in the event that there are Canadian veterans wintering here.

Photo Note: This year, the Patriotic Quilters asked me to take photos of the quilts and the presentation. I was very honoured to do so. Because there were so many, I decided to just feature the table vs the individual quilts. The only post processing I did on the original photo was to ad depth to the colours which were a bit blown out by the overhead lighting. Do do this, I used the accentuate filter in Snapseed.

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”

JENA ARDELL