By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
Members of the Piedmont Area Veterans Association accepted a hefty check from a local donor that will allow it to move forward with the community center construction project.
John V. Anderson, of F&M Bank, presented a $25,000 check to PAVA President Hoss Cooley and members Tuesday morning.
“The veterans discussed and decided that Piedmont needed an events building where all citizens could access so they could host small and great sized community events. The Anderson family saw and also supports this effort of the Piedmont veterans,” Cooley said.
“Today we honor a donation in the name of World War II veteran John V. Anderson. His son Terry also sees this as a great community need and recommended a $25,000 donation be made from the Anderson Family Fund to honor his father who served honorably in the Pacific during WW II. So today we thank the entire Anderson family for their support, not only toward this project but all the past veteran projects as well.”
The Piedmont Area Veterans Association Community Center will be a 6,000 square feet facility with a full kitchen and a patio at the back. The center is their newest community service project and is being funded entirely by donations.
Cooley said the funds were needed to finish pour a concrete driveway.
“It couldn’t have come at a better time. We were trying to get the driveway poured and we wanted to have all that done so we could start on the inside. After we get this driveway poured, the weather won’t really matter and we can concentrate on the inside of it. It came at a perfect time and we thank you very much for this outstanding contribution. It’s great honor for you all to do this for us and we thank you,” he said.
Anderson commended PAVA members for their work in the community.
“I think that the veterans here have done an outstanding job organizing the veteran’s association,” he said. “You all in the Piedmont area are doing a good job bringing the veterans together and the projects you have endeavored. You have some good veterans in your group, they’re talented, they’re good organizers and it’s a pleasure for our family to participate in what you’ve been doing down here. We think you have a great future ahead of you and we’re glad to participate in it.”
Cooley thanked Anderson for a different kind of donation.
“Our thanks and gratitude go to John V. Anderson who fought for his country in WW II, a veteran who saw the need to protect the American way of life, whose actions mean today we can move around in a free environment….to participate in free enterprise, to worship, and to honor those who made it possible,” he said. “On behalf of PAVA, our thanks to you for coming today and taking part of this recognition and specials thanks to John V. Anderson.”
