02/27/2026
Quilt of Valor Presentation
On February 11, a Quilt of Valor was presented to retired Navy Master Chief, George Bergin by members of Blue Spruce Grange #574 at a regular meeting of VFW Post 6689 in Essex Junction.
George is a retired Navy Master Chief who served his country in Viet Nam and is the Post’s Service Officer. Since 2018, George has put on his uniform to attend any funeral that is posted for any veteran who has passed away in our area. To date, he has attended over 1,000 funerals. He takes no payment for this. George is 93 now and although he no longer drives himself, he has no plans to slow down.
The quilt was produced at the Champlain Valley Fair at the Grange display. Visitors to the Grange display were invited to place colored squares on a template. During the two of days that the template was available, along with visitors to the display, members of the various military groups on the grounds as well as members of the Police Department and the EMS squad come by and add pieces to the quilt.
The Quilt of Valor program started in 2003 with the first quilt being awarded to a young man at Walter Reed Medical Center. To date, over 400,000 quilts have been awarded throughout the United States.
