10/19/2026
📸📑 SITREP + PHOTO DUMP: A huge thank you to the more than 100 veterans, community members, and service-providers who came out to our first ever Red River Valley Veteran Expo! Below are a few highlights:
> 12-5PM: East Texas Lighthouse for the Blind blessed several veteran families with life-changing technology in a FREE pair of Ray Ban Meta AI Glasses AND training! Restoring independence and livelihood for both low-vision/blind veterans and their caregivers
> 4-6:30PM: The resource fair was HEAVILY attended, with an energy and buzz about the property as veterans and community members learned about their resources. Veterans from every branch, minus Space Force, and every major conflict from the Korean War to the Global War on Terror were in attendance. We extend our gratitude and respect to the Honorable Mayor Ann Rushing, of CITY OF CLARKSVILLE, for kicking off our Speaking Session by delivering the opening remarks and staying with us throughout so much of the event. While many organizations attended, I want to give a special shoutout to: 1) VA North Texas Health Care System for sending 7 people across 5 departments from 3 hours away; 2) Alicia Kaye with East Texas Lighthouse for the Blind for not only putting service into action with their AI glasses, but lending so much help leading up to and through the event; and 3) Mallory Morris of Texas VLB for partnering with us for this event and also lending much needed help leading up to the event.
> 7-9PM: Thank you to Texas Country Music Artist Ryan Ready for incredible entertainment for our night owls who closed the event down. We lost count of how many times attendees complimented his performance and we HIGHLY recommend him for any event. Great vocals and great human.
> 4-9PM: Special thank you to Southern Soul Grill for making such a huge investment in the success of this event. Not only did they sponsor the event and agree to be our exclusive dinner option, but out of the kindness of their heart they provided free appetizers for our networking happy hour (4-5:30) portion of the event. Another big thank you to Clarksville Country Club and their GM Kalah Davis and bartender Annie for providing a top notch venue and service. We also can’t leave out our contracted Off Duty Officer, Chief Cherry, as well as our face painter and inflatables venders, Jujubilee's Professional Face & Body Art and Paris Inflatables LLC.
Lastly, a massive thank you to our Shield Down volunteer team: Shield Down Treasurer Laura Brown, AHS Senior Kendall Morgan, and Shield Down CEO John Kelty…along with the selfless attendees who took the opportunity to help a little throughout the day and evening! We had volunteers working hard from 11AM-10PM!
Note: Though it wasn’t same day, I would be remiss to not thank The Paris News for blessing us with this headliner front page coverage of the event
