StoneRidge residents honor veterans with quilts on Veterans Day
Mystic — One by one, quilters at StoneRidge Senior Living on Wednesday presented handmade symbols of their gratitude — red, white and blue quilts — to veterans.
The StoneRidge Stone Quilters wrapped the “Patriot Quilts,” which they had worked on for nearly a year, around the veterans during the small Veterans Day luncheon ceremony, as resident Rita Jolly, who spearheaded the project, thanked them for their service.
The group of seven women living at StoneRidge had created quilts for nine World War II veterans and one Cold War veteran, who also live at StoneRidge. They are continuing the tradition of making quilts for their veteran neighbors after first presenting last year quilts to three of about 60 veterans living at StoneRidge, and plan to make more quilts for next year’s ceremony.
Jolly, who has many family members who served in the military, was a youngster during World War II and remembers people across the United States banding together to help with the effort on the home front, including saving metal cans and collecting grease fat from the kitchen. She said in a phone interview that she wanted to create quilts for veterans living at StoneRidge to honor them for their service because they fought for the country, including some who spent years overseas in terrible conditions.
“I just felt that it is our way of honoring them for their service,” she said.
During Wednesday’s ceremony, she addressed the veterans who helped the war effort after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941: “You, the members of the Greatest Generation, if not already in the military stepped forward and for four long years you did battle in Europe and in the Pacific Theater. You did what was required. You went above and beyond. You made this country proud.”
“We were all involved in many small ways to support your efforts,” Jolly added. “We on the home front stood tall with you. It gives me great pleasure on behalf of the Stone Quilters of Stone Ridge, who are sprinkled among you and who made these wonderful quilts, to present to each of you a lovingly pieced, stitched and quilted quilt in honor of your many sacrifices during these years and beyond.”
Pfc. John Cal Beggs was one of the World War II veterans receiving a quilt on Wednesday. He served as a platoon runner for the second platoon of Company G, 407th Infantry Regiment, 102nd Infantry Division in the US Army and was in northern Germany during the war, according to StoneRidge.
“I’m very gratified that they’re recognizing my service, and I’m indebted to them for their concern,” he said, by phone, of the quilters.
According to StoneRidge, the veterans honored Wednesday were: Quartermaster 3rd Class David Anderson, U.S. Coast Guard; Capt. Charles Thompson Baker, U.S. Army; Pfc. John Cal Beggs, U.S. Army; Pfc. James Burbank, U.S. Army; Storekeeper 1st Class Frances Edlund, SPARS (the Women's Reserve), U.S. Coast Guard; Capt. Arne Johnson, U.S. Navy; Frank Magennis of the U.S. Navy Seabees; Quartermaster 2nd Class Forbes M. Meston, U.S. Navy; Commander Henry Peyton, U.S. Navy, and Donald Wooley of the U.S. Navy, who served aboard the USS Okaloosa.
Most of the veterans received their quilts during the ceremony, while some who could not make the ceremony at the time were slated to receive their quilts at another time. In addition to the small group of veterans at the ceremony, more veterans watched virtually from their rooms.
“Whether you served here or overseas, in wartime or in peace, whether you served proudly in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard, you are part of an unbroken chain of patriots who have served the United States of America with honor and distinction and we honor you for your selflessness and bravery,” Executive Director Kathleen Dess told the veterans.
During the ceremony, Michael Langlois, director of community life services, read the Walt Whitman poem “I Hear America Singing,” while the Rev. John Webster, a resident, read a prayer.
Jean Conway, a quilter whose father-in-law served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, said by phone that she enjoys making the quilts because it’s a creative endeavor, but it’s also rewarding to bring joy to the veterans.
“I just think it’s the least we could do for them,” she said.
The quilters
Members of Stone Quilters: Eve Chapin, Jean Conway, Jean Hunter, Dwen Heminway, Rita Jolly, Bodil Meyer and Penny Webster.
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