Hundreds of Veterans Gather for Ashland Mayor’s 8th Annual Veterans Day Breakfast
ASHLAND, Ohio — As the sun came up over Ashland on Veterans Day, a steady stream of veterans made their way into the Ashland Eagles Club. The American Heritage Girls cheered as they came through the first doors. At the next set of doors, Mayor Matt Miller shook hands with veterans while his wife, State Rep. Melanie Miller, fastened a commemorative pin to each veteran’s clothing.
Hundreds of veterans representing every branch of the U.S. military came to the eighth annual Mayor’s Veterans Day Breakfast on Wednesday, Nov. 11. A few steps past the greeting, Ashland City Council members and volunteers from the mayor’s office were ready with a hot breakfast prepared by the Eagles.
Around the tables, veterans caught up with old friends, shared stories from their years in uniform and laughed over memories that had only gotten better with the telling. Family members and friends pulled up chairs beside them. Some of the veterans in the room, Miller said, had been coming since the first breakfast.
With America marking its 250th anniversary this year, Miller reflected on the challenges the country has faced and thanked the men and women in the room who had served through some of them.
“It’s certainly not the time to give up on freedom,” Miller said. “We’re so thankful you did it in your generation, and we’re all committed to doing it in our generation.”
Miller also shared plans for a Veterans Plaza on the one-acre green space behind the Freedom Monument off Fourth Street. The city plans to install 40 poles around the plaza and rotate banners featuring local veterans throughout the year. Miller said donations are helping move the project forward and that he hopes the poles can go up by the end of the year, weather permitting.
The morning also included an $8,000 donation from the local Fraternal Order of Eagles to support Ashland’s economic development efforts. Miller thanked the Eagles for their contributions to the city’s 250th anniversary celebrations and recalled how members volunteered several years ago to cook the breakfast themselves.
To close his remarks, Miller introduced a video of the Freedom Monument’s July 4 dedication. He recalled how hot it was that day and thanked the veterans who had stood outside to be part of it.
“You’re part of history,” he told them.
On Veterans Day morning, Mayor Matt and Melanie Miller, the Eagles, city staff, council members and the American Heritage Girls made that gratitude personal. They stood at the doors, shook hands, pinned ribbons and served breakfast, giving Ashland’s veterans a place to spend the morning together and tell their own stories.
