Amazing Awards

The Forest Acres Quilting Club has been very busy sewing Quilts of Valor this spring! As of today, we have five quilts finished and ready to award. Some of these were entered in the Gage County Fair in July and will then be awarded at the Freeman Public School’s Veterans Day assembly in November. We also have two completed quilt tops ready for the long-arm machine, along with three more quilts started and in various stages of completion.

Our group has also been honored to award several quilts over the past few months. One was awarded in Lincoln in March, two were awarded at the Memorial Day service at Highland Cemetery in Adams in May, and one was awarded at Zion Lutheran Church in rural Pickrell during their America’s 250th birthday celebration in June.

Our first award of the year was presented to Willard Bouwens on March 28. Willard served in the United States Army from 1967 to 1970 and then continued his service in the Army Reserves until 1973. He served in Vietnam from March 1968 to March 1969 with the Da Nang Signal Battalion. He attained the rank of Sergeant before his discharge.

Willard’s quilt was made and awarded by our club member, Vicki Johnson. It is from a Village Rosa pattern called Daring Spirit. The pattern features a center panel surrounded by stripes and corner stars. I quilted an all-over star design using warm beige thread.

On Memorial Day, our club members were at Highland Cemetery to award Quilts of Valor to Jon Gronewold and Cody Eisenhauer.

Jon enlisted in the Nebraska Army National Guard before his senior year of high school. He then attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and participated in its ROTC program from 2009 to 2013. Jon has served in a variety of positions, both stateside and abroad, including deployments to Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Germany. He has also served on State Activations in Nebraska as well as in Colorado. He is currently a major serving as an Operations and Training Officer at the Greenlief Training Site in Hastings, Nebraska.

Jon’s quilt was made from a pattern called Scrappy Rectangles from The Big Book of Scrappy Quilts. It uses only 2” x 3 1/2” rectangles. Eighteen rectangles make up one block, and 56 blocks were used in this quilt. That means a total of 1,008 rectangles went into the quilt! I stitched an all-over star design using my favorite gold thread.

Cody enlisted in the United States Army in 2006 and trained in military transportation operations. He was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2009. When he was discharged in 2014, he had attained the rank of Specialist. He currently serves as Commander of Adams American Legion Post 221 and is also a member of VFW Post 10042.

Cody’s quilt was made by club member Vicki Johnson using 3” strips arranged in an offset pattern. I stitched an all-over star design using light beige thread.

To commemorate America’s 250th birthday, the ladies of Zion Lutheran Church held a very special celebration on June 14. They enlisted our help in awarding a Quilt of Valor to Sandra Kay Busboom Minnick, a veteran with ties to the church. In addition, they displayed Quilts of Valor that had previously been awarded to members of the church, along with their medals and other memorabilia.

Sandra joined the United States Air Force, Nebraska Air National Guard, in 1977. Her role as a budget analyst took her to Germany, France, Denmark, Puerto Rico, and many states across the U.S. She also served in an all-women Honor Guard, proudly carrying the American flag in parades and other public events and showcasing the capabilities of women in uniform. In 1987, she attended the Noncommissioned Officer Academy and received the prestigious John Levitow Award. She was honorably discharged in December 2002 after serving 25 years in active and civil service. Through her service, leadership, and pioneering spirit, she attained the rank of Master Sergeant (E-7).

Sandra’s quilt was made from a panel distributed by the Quilt of Valor Foundation with the help of a major donor. It commemorates America’s 250th birthday, making it the perfect quilt to award during Zion’s special celebration. The pattern for this quilt was found on the QOVF website and is entitled Echoes 3, designed by Nancy Cann. I stitched an all-over star design using gold thread to bring out the gold colors in the panel.