The Shadow
COVINGTON, VA (VR) – The journey started with all local schools coloring VA250 pages for Covington and Clifton Forge store fronts to prepare for the arrival of the VA250 mobile museum and ended with 2,840 cards/coloring pages being sent to veterans in surrounding areas and beyond. It’s hard to imagine this many cards going out, but extra cards were sent to veterans’ hospitals (some have over 600 residents) to touch more lives and send more “thank you” notes. This is a special time in America’s history, and we wanted to do something to honor our country. America celebrated 250 years of independence on July 4, 2026. Thank you to all the veterans and their ancestors for their service. All of the schools in the Alleghany Highlands participated in our coloring project for this special event. Thank you, Kim Halterman, for allowing this to happen. So much time and energy went into this special project
This card project would not have been possible without the help of our good Samaritans who did 2,050 “thank you” cards, and our local youth who colored 800 pages – some VA250 pages had a little history lesson along the way and some Happy 4th of July. We could not do these things without the help of our community.
As a very special thank you to the Good Samaritans, enough cards were sent to the Salem VA Medical Center for all their in-house residents and for those veterans coming for their appointments this holiday season. The cards were sent to honor William Vaiden Burns, United States Navy, who was a resident at the Salem VA before his passing, and to thank his daughters, Betty Leitch and Billie Gibson, for all that they have done in his memory. In addition to the 2,050 cards these ladies made, they also helped raise $400 to cover some of the cost of mailing the cards. Thank you so very much to the “Good Samaritans”.
The following groups and individuals made it possible this year:
Jeter-Watson Elementary School
Sharon Elementary School
Callaghan Elementary School
Mountain View Elementary School
Covington Middle school
Alleghany High School
Boys Home
First Christian Church youth
Woodlands Health & Rehab
A-1 Dance Studio
The Good Samaritans
A special thank you to all the area businesses who participated by putting the coloring pages in their store fronts during the special VA250 event. The Covington Post office, The Virginian Review, Alleghany Highlands Regional Library, Image Express, Kanawha Café, City of Covington, Barnyard Blessings, Make Room, Discovery Center, the Depot, Lollies, The Bee Hive, Happie Hippie Camp Store, Livy’s Closet, The Depot on Main, Michael’s, 42 Deli, YMCA of the Alleghany Highlands, Tiny Treasures Boutique and Disability Services of the Highlands all made this possible.
This tremendous outpouring has helped our auxiliary touch the lives of many veterans. There are so many other ways we can reach out, and we are working toward that goal. The more hands we have, the more veterans we can serve. We will be doing a membership drive August 8th during Street Scene (Sponsored by Kars Unlimited), and we would welcome all newcomers with new ideas. qPlease stop by and visit us.
If you have anyone you would like to honor with a card or if you have any questions, please reach out to Marian Paxton at 843-653-6098 or marianpaxton@gmail.com.
Pictures colored by children at the Alleghany Highlands YMCA. Thank you Bobbie Wagner (Marian Paxton Photo)
The Good Samaritans: L-R – Billie Gibson, Jesse Johnson and Betty Leitch (Marian Paxton Photo)
