MEDORA — Tim Gill, lead pastor of Medora Pentecostal Church, kept his promise for the third annual Medora Freedom Celebration to be held — rain or shine — on Saturday.
The event was originally planned for July 1, but the weather forecast pushed the celebration back a week. On Saturday, there was both rain and sunshine for the event hosted by Medora Pentecostal Church with the help of local sponsors.
Faythe Gill, Tim’s wife, said the event has grown from the first one in 2021.
“The first year, we had 600 people attend, and last year, there was around 2,000,” she said. “This afternoon, the numbers are kind of low, but I think that will pick up when it’s time for the fireworks.”
Activities for the kids included a bouncy house, laser tag, an obstacle course, an inflatable slide and other activities.
“Our church does everything free of charge, and we give out food and drink concessions,” Faythe said. “Our community is along the poverty line, so we don’t want anyone to come here and not be able to have a good time, so we don’t for charge anything.”
She said the church was giving away a lot of prizes, such as grocery cards and gas cards. There also were a number of outside vendors and food trucks at the celebration, but those were not free.
Last year, first responders, firefighters and the police department were recognized and honored during the celebration. This year, a military tribute was planned.
“We are honoring our military, including active, reserves and veterans, and we started off at 2 p.m. today with the honor guard’s flag presentation and 21-gun salute,” Faythe said. “We appreciate our military so much.”
The ceremony was to begin at 5 p.m. and David Gill was going to ask all service members (active, reserve and veterans) to come to the stage, where each one would be asked to state their name, rank and time served, after which Pastor Gill and Teresa Wayman would present them with a small token of appreciation.
Shortly before 5 p.m., the rain started to pour, so the ceremony has been postponed to a later date.
There was a set of patriotic music performed and the MPC choir sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Misty Quick, outreach specialist for the Wounded Warrior Project, was at the event to speak on behalf of the project.
Quick said her job is to educate those transitioning out of the service and into civilian life, to welcome them back to “this world” and let them know Wounded Warrior Project can help them through it.
“A lot of people think that wounded means something physical that people can see, but mental health is included in that,” Quick said. “The connection piece is usually the first step to getting them out of the house and back around their brothers, and even if they’ve signed up for events before, they might sign up, but at the last minute, they’re not so sure about it, and we help them through that.”
She said they get to know the warrior and their families as the organization provides services for up to five of their family support members so they don’t have to be related.
“For example, if a service member comes down with post-traumatic stress disorder and their spouse doesn’t know this new person, it can get really messy, and it’s hard for both of them,” Quick said. “So we don’t work with just the warrior. We also work with their family, and all of our services are free.”
She said even if a warrior doesn’t want to sign up, the family support members can.
“I am a family support member, and my dad was in the U.S. Marines, and my uncle, who I was very close to, served in World War II, Vietnam and Korea,” Quick said. “My uncle passed away 10 years ago, and I was there when he died.”
She said her uncle loved serving, and his wife loved being a military wife.
“They lived in Hawaii and Japan, and I’m going to visit Japan in December,” Quick said. “I have pictures of them from where they lived near the emperor’s palace, and I’m going to try to find some of those places where they were.”
According to woundedwarriorproject.org, the project direct programs in mental health, career counseling and long-term rehabilitative care along with their advocacy efforts have improved the lives of millions of warriors and their families.
To cap off the Medora Freedom Celebration that evening, Straight Shooters Fireworks provided free fireworks at the Medora Town Park.