Barbara Angel, Irene Manning, and Judge Forrest Beadle
In June, women veterans across the country were especially honored in various ceremonies. Denton County hosted a luncheon for county women veterans, and about a dozen from throughout the county attended. Those who responded with their information were honored with specially made quilts from Quilts of Valor.
The ceremonies were very moving as the individual red, white, and blue quilts were unfolded and then wrapped around the recipients, who each were told “Welcome Home.”
However, one such lady was unable to make the ceremony, so at Commissioner Dianne Edmondson’s urging, the Robson Ranch Republican Club chose to honor its member, Irene Manning, by surprising her with her quilt at the August meeting.
Barbara Angel, a volunteer with Quilts of Valor from the local Red, White, and Blue Bee, shared about the organization and its work to distribute quilts to veterans in Denton County and throughout the United States. She explained that knowing this would be a Republican function, the log cabin pattern was chosen for the quilt in honor of Honest Abe Lincoln.
Judge Forrest Beadle, a veteran himself who presides over the county’s Veterans Court, also attended to help honor Irene.
The surprised veteran shared with the group that she had volunteered with the USO from 7th grade through high school before actually joining the Air Force where she met her husband Dr. Alex Manning. Irene was an airman II for three years, and during her tour, she was predominantly serving on long flights to Japan, Hawaii, and Alaska.
To date, over 393,000 quilts have been distributed nationwide to veterans. Quilts of Valor is a national organization that provides quilts to service members and veterans to give them comfort and healing.
The Red, White, and Blue Bee group meets twice monthly at Green Valley School, 6900 FM 2153, in Aubrey. If you’d like to know more about this group, please contact Barbara Angel at [email protected]. To receive communication and updates or to donate, follow this link: tinyurl.com/5a78juke.
The Robson Ranch Republican Club meets on the first Wednesday evening of each month at the clubhouse. Come see what we’re up to next!