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I have a few updates for y’all! The cell phones we collected for the cellphonesforsoldiers.com drive has been a success! Thanks to the good folks (like you) who donated your old, used, broken cell phones to be refurbished then provided to our soldiers and veterans and the efforts of Patty O’Sullivan – Dare County Veteran Service Officer (V.S.O.) office# 252-475-5604 – she mailed four boxes to the refurbishing destination in Georgia with contents totaling 81 cell phones and three tablets! Isn’t that great? And we’ve decided to continue the drive maintaining the cell phone/tablet deposit boxes at the same locations until further notice, those being: Thomas A. Baum Senior Center (K.D.H.); Dare County Parks and Rec Center (K.D.H.); Y.M.C.A. (Nags Head); Virginia S. Tillett Community Center (Manteo) and the Fessenden Center (Buxton) are all equipped with the clearly marked deposit boxes for the phones. Once September 1 arrives, we’ll again place one in the Dare County Administrative Building (Manteo) as well. You all are such a blessing contributing your old phones, so thank you!

Regarding the endeavor of the Dare County Veterans Advisory Council to (hopefully) host “The Wall That Heals” in 2023, I wanted you all to know that Patty has been invited to attend their event in Charlotte in October this year to meet with those who set it up in advance. For anyone interested in attending, it will take place from (initial set up begins the 19^th) but officially open October 20 – 23, 2022. The event will be hosted by Dominion Energy and will be located across the street from the Charlotte Motor Speedway, 5500 Concord Parkway South in Concord if you should be traveling or in the area at that time. Attendance is always free to the public.

Because it is such an outstanding exhibit and open 24 hours a day for the period it is onsite, there is a lot to learn about hosting the beautiful “Wall” to honor our Vietnam veterans, so Patty and others will be attending the one in Charlotte in anticipation of it (hopefully) coming here to the Outer Banks.

Understand that it is not certain that we will get the opportunity yet. The application was submitted on the first day we could submit it and we will be notified this November if our area was selected as a site for the 2023 calendar, however, Patty and the Veterans Advisory Council “Wall That Heals” Committee is eager and willing to learn all we can in advance so that our opportunity should it be approved, will be an outstanding and unforgettable event that we hope everyone will attend.

Interest has already been expressed locally and in Elizabeth City, too, among active duty military to assist if we are selected – which is wonderful because we will need about 200 volunteers to help set the panels up/dismantle them when the event is over; help attendees to locate their loved one’s name on the wall and etch it as a keepsake and guard “The Wall That Heals” 24/7, so please keep that thought for future reference in mind please and thank you.

This replica of the original permanent “Wall” in Washington, D.C. is one that brings many memories, yes, but peace, comfort and honor to all the men and women who served in Vietnam and the families who have lost loved ones because of it, both there in Vietnam and since the surviving veterans came home.

This incredible reminder of a period of extreme heartache, pain and suffering bears the names of 58,281 men and women who perished as a result of their ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam. Members of the Dare County Veterans Advisory Council hope from the depths of our hearts that our Dare County will get the opportunity to welcome everyone from everywhere to come and stand before its magnificent presence and I don’t mind telling you, I’m praying we get the chance.

My husband served the U.S. Army in Vietnam and thank the Lord he made it back home, but it stayed with him every day after his honorable discharge in 1968. He never forgot its horror, he never forgot his buddies who died in Vietnam, he never forgot the indelible impression serving there made on him and while he didn’t pass away while he was there, he died well after having been there as a result of his exposure to Agent Orange in 2016. I can tell you as only one of the many widows and widowers whose hero died as a result, “The Wall That Heals” will mean a lot to all of us as well.

I’ll keep y’all posted as soon as I know if we are chosen and when it will take place – so please keep up with me through Gig Line and if you’re praying folks, I’d sure appreciate it. My sweet one and only true love Billy and I went to see it in D.C. with friends some years back and standing in its presence is, to say the least, overwhelming and emotional. This replica that travels across our country that we’re hoping to host offers a mobile education center as well with videos and Vietnam War artifacts and the entire experience will be very sobering to say the least.

More important info: if you all receive news alerts or blasts on your cell phone or computer, you may have read or heard about the opportunity to help protect your property ownership through the Dare County Register of Deeds recommendation that was recently generated. Once I saw it on my iPhone, I contacted our Register of Deeds office to ascertain it was legit and I was told it was and I’m grateful. It’s a free opportunity to help protect your property ownership from hackers and unscrupulous thieves. Let me be clear: the Register of Deeds doesn’t do it for you, but they want us to know there is a way to additionally and better help secure our deed. The staff member I talked to was very nice and she said they recommend we do it. If you haven’t received any info about this notification, go to www.darenc.com then search under Departments, once there, search Register of Deeds, then under the options, click on Fraud Detection, where you should see the link they recommend. You will enter your name and email address so they can email you if there is activity on your deed and you will see below that, where you can list four or five other names of who might be named on your property deed to also list. She also suggested that if it’s only you and your spouse to also consider listing several ways to name yourself such as middle name or initial, or spouse’s name spelled out fully, so that anyone identified on your deed will be clearly identified. Then, look below for the option to Agree, followed by the option to Submit. After that, you should get an email confirmation entitled “Fraud Detection Email Activation.” Scroll down to the bottom and it asks you to click on the link clearly noted there and when you do, you’ll get a quick response saying it’s Active.

I’m surely not telling you to do it – that’s up to you – just telling you what I found out from the “horse’s mouth” when I followed up that I feel confidence in.

As my brother-in-law would say, “Okey dokey … alrighty then!” As usual, thank you all for reading Gig Line. If you’d like to catch up on previous columns, please check out www.giglineheroes.com – where you’ll find a bunch!

Until next time, be healthy, safe and happy! Love yourself like you love others and remember how much we all need you in our lives! Forgive those who have hurt you in any way and remember the good Lord loves you more than anybody! Take care, love our veterans and if you have a question or would like to chat or email me, call 252-202-2058 or email giglineheroes@aol.com (note: if you email me, please spell heroes with the ‘e’ included since many folks spell it heros. If you write to me and leave the ‘e’ out, I’ll never see your correspondence and then you might assume I ignored you. No way! You mean a lot to me, so please spell it correctly if you email me.) Thank you all, God bless you and everyone you love! Stay tuned!

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