Rememberance On The River

WELDON, NC

REMEMBRANCE on the RIVER is a yearly event held on the banks of the beautiful Roanoke River. This inspiring event’s two primary founders are the NC AMVETS Service Foundation, a 501(C) (3) charitable organization, and Bruce Tyler, a combat veteran and local business owner of Weldon Mills Distillery. Our goal for this years festival held May 25-28 will seek to Reflect, Recognize, and Respect our Fallen Military Heroes and their families.

Our very own, Bruce Tyler, US Army Retired, served 27 years in the Active Army, Reserves, and NC National Guard. He enlisted as a Combat Arms Soldier, was commissioned as a Military Police Officer and subsequently, a JAG Officer. Bruce and his Buddy Michael Hinderliter, started Weldon Mills Distillery, specifically Soldier’s Cut Bourbon, with a goal of raising funds for Gold Star Families. This project is very important to Bruce, as his sister became a Gold Star Widow after her husband and his Blackhawk crew were shot down in Afghanistan.

This year’s event will begin May 25th and run daily from 10:00 am until 7:00pm. Sunday, May 28th closing ceremony will be at 5:00 pm. This event is FREE to the public and will include: North Carolina Vietnam Traveling Wall, owned and built by AMVETS Post 906 in Southport NC, Trees of Valor, Beirut Memorial, NC National Guard Mobil Museum, Lights of Valor, ROTC Drill Competitions, and a Field of Flags made up of flags placed by you in honor of your past and present military family members who served in the United States Military. Food and craft vendors on site, with music, guest speakers including and special presentations throughout the event.

YOU are invited all to participate in our Living Memorial, The Field of Flags. This Memorial will be built throughout the weekend as visitors, with their small donation, place a flag and grow our Field of Flags. Flags can be placed in honor of, or in memory of your buddy, your unit, your ship, your family member, or all veterans who served. It is your flag to place and identify as you wish. At the end of the weekend the Field of Flags will be dismantled and taken to various veteran cemeteries to be placed on Veteran graves for Monday, Memorial Day. All funds from the Field of Flags will go directly to our projects in support of Gold Star Families. This project will be targeting NC Gold Star Families and assisting in paying off home mortgages.

We are also excited to announce that on Thursday May 25th we will be a stop for motorcyclist headed to Washington DC for the annual Memorial Day Remembrance previously known as “Rolling Thunder” and now known as “Ride to Remember.” We anticipate welcoming large and small groups as they head North. We will post opportunities for the general public to gather and cheer on these dedicated citizens as they honor our POW/MIA and our Fallen Heroes. We join in their commitment to Never Forget!

REMEMBRANCE on the RIVER is solely a volunteer and community donor project.

For more information about volunteering or to make a donation you may contact us at: www.remembranceontheriver.org

LOCATION: 100-200 Rock Fish Drive Weldon, N.C. 27890

CIVIC Groups and Vendors Needed!

Click here to make donations, to volunteer, visit Facebook, or call 252-673-6495

Sometimes when I stop and look back at where I’ve been and where I am at the moment I can’t help but wonder what I was thinking, especially when I wake up in the morning and see several inches of snow on the ground.

I’ve been homeless and living on the road for over 8 years now and almost nothing I do makes sense to me or anyone who follows my journey on Facebook. The last major and confusing decision I made was to leave Florida and ride out to Colorado. I left a state where the temperatures were in the mid to upper 70’s-80’s and came to a state with temperatures ranging from the low teens to the upper 80’s. I had to leave Florida and go to Georgia to take care of a small legal issue and once I had it all taken care of I felt the unction to ride west again so I packed my bag and headed toward Colorado.

The ride from Atlanta to Longmont Colorado took me longer than it normally would partly because of the weather but getting old had a little to do with it, too. I only had a two day window of decent riding weather to get from my son’s place near Atlanta to a very good friend’s place in Wichita and I had an important stop to make near Birmingham to visit the parents of a brother who died a couple of years ago. Because the weather along the Gulf Coast can be volatile in the spring I only stayed at my friend’s parents place for a couple hours and then rode to West Helena Arkansas and got a cheap room for the night.

It was a beautiful start to the day when I left West Helena but it wasn’t long before the weather started to be a factor. It was fairly warm all that day but about the time I got into Missouri the winds started picking up speed making my arms work to keep my track