War Vets Visit Area

Wednesday’s editorial praises the many groups rolling out Myrtle Beach’s welcome mat  for a group of wounded veterans.

After Christina Shealy visited a wounded soldier at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, she felt compelled to return at Thanksgiving that year with traditional holiday food including pumpkin pie. The veteran she visited couldn’t eat the pumpkin pie because his jaw was wired shut at the time. He had been wounded in Afghanistan.

Shealy says she got the idea to help Reed veterans smell the pumpkin pies and that resulted in her founding a nonprofit organization called Scents for Soldiers. Shealy first found pumpkin scented candles, quickly learned she could not light candles at the medical center and tried other things including bowls of scented rocks. The Myrtle Beach resident thought she was in trouble when a colonel approached her but the officer “told me not to stop what you’re doing.”

Two dozen wounded war veterans from Walter Reed in Washington are visiting the area this week on a four-day trip and “Myrtle Beach has poured out the welcome” Shealy says, donating condo rooms, meals and entertainment for “Expressing Our Gratitude.” Shealy’s nonprofit organized the trip after she asked a group of veterans at Walter Reed if they would like to visit Myrtle Beach. “We have many local organizations and businesses working very hard to make this happen,” Shealy says.

The trip starts with a bus trip from Walter Reed, arriving at Harbor Lights Resort at 6 p.m. Thursday. Friday starts with breakfast at Blackwater Middle School in Conway and a day at Broadway at the Beach including lunch at Margaritaville, a visit to MagiQuest and a 6 p.m. show (“The Magical Spirit of Ireland”) at the Palace Theatre.

Saturday includes meals at Golden Corral on Seaboard and Creek Ratz in Murrells Inlet and golf contests at Martin’s Golf & Tennis in Myrtle Beach. Carrabba’s is catering a 7 p.m. “Expressing Our Gratitude” party at Ocean Dunes Resort. Sunday breakfast is provided by Bridgewater Academy Charter School at Harbour Lights. At noon the group returns to Walter Reed, with Rolling Thunder escorting the bus out of town. Shealy says $3,500 for the bus was the only part of the trip not donated and veterans groups helped cover that expense.

Shealy organized Scents for Soldiers in February 2008 after that Thanksgiving visit to Walter Reed. Now she has just received word from the Internal Revenue Service that Scents for Soldiers has 501(c)(3) status. “The military is big in my family,” Shealy says. Her father, Harry Powell, is a retired career Marine. At first, Scents for Soldiers took items on patients’ wish lists to Walter Reed. When Shealy asked some patients if they would like to visit Myrtle Beach, she says she had no idea how she would make the trip happen. “So many people are stepping up, it’s crazy,” she says.

As has been the case time and again, Shealy learned about the tremendous heart of Grand Strand residents, businesses and organizations in providing a trip to the beach for the war veterans visiting this week.

Donors

Additional financial donors for “Expressing Our Gratitude” trip to the Myrtle Beach area for veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center: American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Bluestar Mothers, Patriot Coalition, Rolling Thunder, Avista-Seaside Resort, Harry & Libby Powell, Jane Snyder.

Two dozen wounded war veterans from Walter Reed in Washington are visiting the area this week on a four-day trip and “Myrtle Beach has poured out the welcome” Shealy says, donating condo rooms, meals and entertainment for “Expressing Our Gratitude.” Shealy’s nonprofit organized the trip after she asked a group of veterans at Walter Reed if they would like to visit Myrtle Beach. “We have many local organizations and businesses working very hard to make this happen,” Shealy says.

The trip starts with a bus trip from Walter Reed, arriving at Harbor Lights Resort at 6 p.m. Thursday. Friday starts with breakfast at Blackwater Middle School in Conway and a day at Broadway at the Beach including lunch at Margaritaville, a visit to MagiQuest and a 6 p.m. show (“The Magical Spirit of Ireland”) at the Palace Theatre.

Saturday includes meals at Golden Corral on Seaboard and Creek Ratz in Murrells Inlet and golf contests at Martin’s Golf & Tennis in Myrtle Beach. Carrabba’s is catering a 7 p.m. “Expressing Our Gratitude” party at Ocean Dunes Resort. Sunday breakfast is provided by Bridgewater Academy Charter School at Harbour Lights. At noon the group returns to Walter Reed, with Rolling Thunder escorting the bus out of town. Shealy says $3,500 for the bus was the only part of the trip not donated and veterans groups helped cover that expense.

Shealy organized Scents for Soldiers in February 2008 after that Thanksgiving visit to Walter Reed. Now she has just received word from the Internal Revenue Service that Scents for Soldiers has 501(c)(3) status. “The military is big in my family,” Shealy says. Her father, Harry Powell, is a retired career Marine. At first, Scents for Soldiers took items on patients’ wish lists to Walter Reed. When Shealy asked some patients if they would like to visit Myrtle Beach, she says she had no idea how she would make the trip happen. “So many people are stepping up, it’s crazy,” she says.

As has been the case time and again, Shealy learned about the tremendous heart of Grand Strand residents, businesses and organizations in providing a trip to the beach for the war veterans visiting this week.

Donors

Additional financial donors for “Expressing Our Gratitude” trip to the Myrtle Beach area for veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center: American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Bluestar Mothers, Patriot Coalition, Rolling Thunder, Avista-Seaside Resort, Harry & Libby Powell, Jane Snyder.