VVA holds annual information fair
TEXARKANA, Texas — Besides being Armed Forces Day, Saturday also marked a commemoration for Vietnam Veterans of America.
The local Chapter 278 held its 25th annual Veterans Information Fair — a four-hour event to assist veterans and their families in accessing information and resources from the Department of Veterans Affairs and other agenices.
“To this day, there are veterans who may not always know what is available them,” 278 President Greg Beck said. “Back in the 1990s, I went to a Texas state VVA council meeting in Dallas, and it was there that I saw several people from agencies like the American Red Cross and the Veterans Land Board, as well as some people from the VA, waiting right there to talk to veterans.”
Beck said the meeting motivated him to establish a similar information fair in Texarkana, starting in 1998.
“Most of the veterans who came out to our first information fairs were Vietnam veterans, but we did have a few Korean War and World War II vets,” Beck said. “Today, they are still mostly Vietnam vets, but we are now getting some vets from Operation Desert Storm.”
The early fairs were in a former motel on North State Line Avenue, near Interstate 30. They then moved to the American Legion Building on East Broad Street before setting up at the Elks Lodge on New Boston Road, where they have been for seven years.
Beck said the event likely will stay at the Elks Lodge because of the space it offers.
Of the 22 participating agencies invited each year to the fair, the majority offer medical, counseling, hospice, education, employment and assisted living services. For at least one provider, Saturday’s Information Fair was a first.
Amy McLemore, a registered nurse, is administrator and clinical director of Above All, which provides personal care services lik cleaning, cooking, laundry, transportation, bathing and respite care.
“One of our workers told us about this fair for veterans, so this will be our first time to set up and meet them,” she said.