The Shadow
CLIFTON FORGE – Several local businesses in Clifton Forge have joined together to honor service men and women from the Alleghany Highlands who are about to be deployed overseas.
Members of Virginia National Guard Unit Bravo Company, First Battalion, headquartered at the Armory on the campus of Dabney S. Lancaster Community College, will be deployed to Afghanistan in January.
The businesses will pay a tribute to the soldiers by providing special services and pricing prior to and throughout their deployment.
Chuck Almarez of Clifton Forge, co-owner of Fire and Light Gallery with Glen Bryant of Iron Gate, came up with the idea of offering professional portraits of the service members and their families prior to deployment. And so that service members can watch their kids grow and their families change during their tour of duty, family members will also be able to have portraits made each quarter. The images will then be posted on the Fire and Light Web site to view and share.
“Photos are incredible reminders of what’s important in our lives,” Almarez said, “They’re like little time machines that take us away from where we are to the time (and) place it was taken; the babies born, the child who graduates, the dog that is simply getting older. These are the memories we need to be reminded of when we’re away from home.”
Almarez speaks from the experience of being a company commander during the Vietnam conflict. “When my soldiers get letters from home it was great and it really improved their morale. When they got pictures with the letters it was even better. They would share those pictures from home with their buddies and their bonds as soldiers and people became even stronger.”
The idea for Operation Home Front came to Almarez from those memories in Vietnam as well as some local memories of Clifton Forge. “I’ve been taking sports pictures in this area for almost 16 years,” Almarez said, “and it all started with trying to schedule pictures for the T-Ball team I was coaching.
“A few years ago, I learned that one of my former T-Ball players, Sgt. Louis Pendleton, was in the National Guard and had already deployed once to Bosnia. In January he deploys once again, this time to Afghanistan. Now that I have a local studio, it seemed the least I could do to make the separation easier and help him keep track of his new wife and the baby that’s on the way,” Almarez added.
With Operation Home Front, service members and their families will each receive a color print to keep up with them and all photos from the session will be available for viewing on the Fire and Light Web site, www.fireandlightgallery.com.
The service member’s family and/or pet, can also have updates and images made quarterly to make sure their soldier is keeping up with the changes at home. All the images from those sessions will also be available for sharing on the Web site. The offer is extended to all active duty, reserve, and National Guard members in the Highlands.
Local Clifton forge merchants who joined Operation Home Front are RidersUp Outfitters, Jack Mason’s Tavern, Bear Mountain Signs, True Value Hardware, Heirlooms Café, Vic’s family Restaurant, Highlands Reality, Clifton Forge Antiques, Club Car Deli, Regional Home Care and Mountain Regional Hospice.
