Quilt of Valor honors Brewster veteran Norman Marshall

OKANOGAN – Bridgeport resident and Navy veteran Norman Elliott Marshall received some long overdue recognition at the Okanogan County Fair last Thursday, Sept. 7, when he and three fellow veterans were honored with Quilts of Valor (QOV).

Marshall, 87, served in the U.S. Navy as an E-6 from 1955 to 1962. His quilt was made by Laurie Morgan of Winthrop.

The QOV ceremony took place on stage in the rodeo arena in front of the grandstands and prior to the performance of county music recording artist Easton Corbin. If a warmup act can steal the show from the headliner this – not the least in the eyes of the honored veterans – was one such occasion.

Joining Marshall for the QOV awards were:

• William Gomez, Tonasket, U.S. Army, 1967–1969. Quilt made and quilted by Garland Quilts of Valor in Spokane.

• Michael Kelley, Loomis, U.S. Navy Seabees, E-7, 1969-1993. Quilt made and quilted by Pam VonPressentin.

• Michael Daharsh, Tonasket, U.S. Navy, E-8, 1961-1983. Quilt made by Martha Peppones, quilted by Pam VonPressentin.

While the QOV presentation was the first held at the fair, Morgan said she hopes to make it a regular part of future fairs.

“Next year we want to make the public more aware in advance so those who want to attend and thanks our veterans can plan for it,” said Morgan. “Even though we were not able to that for the first one, we still had a pretty good crowd of those arriving early for the Corbin concert.”

The QOV project has been in existence for two decades thanks to Catherine Roberts who started the tradition in 2003 when her son was serving in Iraq. Since then, more than 355,000 Quilts of Valor have been awarded to veterans nationwide, 19,000 so far this year.

The quilters represent more than 10,722 members from 672 groups nationally. Washington state has 550 members in 24 groups and membership is growing by the day.

“The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover Service Members and Veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor,” said The Quilts of Valor Foundation (www.qovf.org).

Mike Maltais: 360-333-8483, michael@ward.media