To help illustrate the community’s respect for veterans, this year’s Veterans Day ceremony in downtown Franklin was all about the latest wave of veteran portraits from artists with Uptown Gallery.
Uptown Gallery and the Macon County Art Association have been painting veterans for Veterans Day for nine years. The selected local veterans are teamed up with a painter, who recreates a photo from their service days in a new medium over the course of several months. The painters take the responsibility very seriously because of the importance of the occasion, but they also look forward to it as one of their biggest projects of the year.
“When I first saw his picture, I smiled, because his smile is contagious,” said Carol Conti, who recreated a photo of Navy veteran Bill Trapani.
At the ceremony, the veterans were presented with their finished portraits and got to address the crowd about their time in service and what Veterans Day means to them. The painters also got to go into more detail about their process. For many of them, it was a rewarding and eye-opening experience to hear more about America’s military history from a firsthand source in preparation for the project.
“For me, it was like a tie to my dad, who was also in the Air Force, even though they had very different experiences,” said Kathy Ratcliff, who painted Air Force veteran Daniel Burnley Raiford.
The Veterans Day ceremony, held on Main Street last Thursday morning, drew hundreds of Macon County residents to watch the veterans on parade, accompanied by music from the Franklin High School Marching Panther Regiment. The crowd stuck around for over an hour despite miserable weather conditions, although the rain mostly held off until after the portraits were presented. Franklin Mayor Bob Scott, who was recognized for his own service at the ceremony, remarked that in all the years he’s been in his position, bad weather has never been enough to stop Franklin residents from honoring their veterans.
“We’ve had every kind of weather there is on Veterans’ Day in the years I’ve been here,” Scott said. “We’ve had the rain, we’ve had the snow, we’ve had the sleet, we’ve had the heat. It wasn’t too long ago we had the smoke.”
The veterans who received their portraits were thankful to see so much support. Scott Eichelberger, a 22-year veteran of the Army, said the association’s commitment to celebrating as many different veterans as possible and the interest from hundreds of their neighbors who showed up for the ceremony are a reminder that what they did for their country was important and appreciated. That’s one of the most significant gifts a veteran can get on Veterans Day.
“It’s awesome that they’re recognizing all of our veterans here, even the ones who couldn’t be here today and even the ones who never got to come home except for in a casket,” Eichelberger said. “It means a lot to see this many people who are willing to stand out in the rain to honor our veterans. We’re grateful for the community that we have here.”
To be considered for a Veterans Day portrait in a future year, contact Karen Smith of the Macon County Art Association by calling 305-401-4361.