County veterans committee gets update on spring plans
There will be some closures to the veterans service office in coming months as office staff attend trainings and work on veterans-related projects.
County Veterans Service Officer Sheila Sutton reported to members of the county’s veterans service committee on Tuesday that the office will be closed for the Spring Conference May 5 to 9. Both Sutton and Veterans Service Specialist Karyn Gebert will be attending the conference which will be held in Superior. Sutton explained that Gebert is required to go to this one in order to keep up her certifications with the state.
In addition, the on-site walk-in hours for Gilman and Rib Lake will not be held in May due to the conference and need for Sutton to not be away from the courthouse office too many days in a row.
In addition to the conference dates, the office will be closed later in May on May 21 for staff to work with students to place flags on the graves of veterans in the four Medford cemeteries. Sutton said she will be going to the Gilman area on May 23 to help with placing cemetery flags there on that day.
All cemeteries in the county will be receiving new flags, this year as the result of money spent by the Veterans Service Commission to replace the existing flags many of which were damaged by storms last summer. Sutton explained that representatives from each of the cemeteries will be notified to pick up a storage tote with their flags between 1 and 4 p.m. on May 14 to 16. She said the cemeteries can either choose to store the flags on their own or can bring them back to the courthouse for the county to store.
“We ordered 6,000 flags,” Sutton said, noting that in future years, the cemeteries would only receive additional flags as needed.
Committee member Rod Adams remarked on the quality of the older flags. Sutton said that the new flags are all made in the United States and are better quality.
In other business, committee members:
• Received word that Sutton will be participating in a Veterans Outreach set for April 23 in Merrill. The event is being held in cooperation with other veterans service offices and with the VA from Tomah. In related action, committee members approved allowing Sutton to purchase reusable tote bags that will be given to veterans attending and to pay for some radio advertising to get veterans from this area to attend.
• Received an update on the carryover accounts and what the money in each of those accounts is for. The county is asking for all departments to review the carryover accounts to determine if they are needed.
