‘A new mission’

Published 7:21 pm Saturday, May 27, 2017

The Smith Lake Park Memorial Day Festival marks the unofficial beginning of summer in Cullman County, but there is more to the festival than good food and music. 

Danny Hall, a Cullman resident and Air Force veteran, said his grandchildren were visiting from Texas, so he brought them to the festival on Saturday to let them have fun at the different booths and show support for the Saving Forgotten Warriors foundation. 

“We figured we’d get out here and support these guys,” Hall said. 

The SFW was one of 53 vendors at the festival, and sold merchandise and chances to dunk a member of the organization in a dunk tank. 

The Saving Forgotten Warriors foundation is a local non-profit organization that advocates for the safety, health and well-being of veterans. 

Jeremy Hogan, the founder of the SFW, said there have been more than 200 local veterans who have received assistance from the foundation, including three veterans who received vehicles and others who received accessibility ramps for their homes or transportation to doctors’ appointments in Huntsville or Birmingham. 

Hogan said the organization is currently raising money for two projects, building ramps for one veteran and providing home repair for another, and is working on plans for a 120-bed ranch that will provide care for any veteran of any war. 

After a veteran receives assistance from the SFW, he or she is encouraged to volunteer with the organization to make sure that other veterans also receive assistance. The veterans who were working the booth at the Memorial Day Festival were all veterans who have received help from the SFW in the past. 

“It’s a part of healing,” Hogan said. “It gives them a new mission. It gives them a new purpose.”

Doug Davenport, director of Cullman County Parks and Recreation, said the Memorial Day festival is usually smaller than the 4th of July or Labor Day festivals that the county Parks and Recreation Department hosts, but it is the only one that features free admission. 

He said the festival is competing with a few other Memorial Day festivals around the area, but there would be around 3,000-5,000 visitors over the course of the day. 

That number of attendees is smaller than the number who come to other festivals throughout the year, but the reason behind the festival makes it an important one, Davenport said. 

“It’s just kind of a way to kick off the summer and give back to the community,” he said. “That’s the reason we don’t charge.”