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Our Dare County website (darenc.gov) is a great place to find news, events and updates regarding everything from Board of Commissioners meetings schedule and agendas; acknowledgement of the Employee of the Month; sheriff’s blotter; re-entry info; and a huge array of important information for topics that we all should keep up with or follow up on, especially my favorite: veterans!

Dare County Veterans Discount Card. When you access the website, search departments, then veterans where you will find info about the free money-saving card. Please contact me: Marsha M. Brown, cell: 252-202-2058 to make an appointment to obtain your card. The process is brief and usually takes no more than 15 minutes. Please review the huge list of businesses (about 135) in Dare County/Outer Banks that currently offer veteran discounts, followed up by a reference list of businesses that may not be noted on the discount card list, however places that you can access further veteran discount websites. Trust me when I tell you, it’s worth looking at if you haven’t noticed the reference before!

Veteran Services – which details our huge event coming this fall in November (you will see a red, green and yellow striped ribbon, depicting Vietnam veterans). In this section, it will provide full information about The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter scale traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. and the Education Center that accompanies it; where you can mail a tax-deductible donation if you’d like; and how to proceed to sign up to volunteer your time to help set up, dismantle and guard The Wall That Heals while it is here. Please contact Patty O’Sullivan, Dare County veterans service officer and organizer of the event, so she can link you to the site to sign up to volunteer. Also, she can be reached by calling her office at 252-475-5604, her work cell at 252-473-7749 or by email at patricia.o’sullivan@darenc.gov. When you scroll down, you will also find information about requesting duplicate V.A. forms such as a DD-214 and others. If you don’t have a computer or would like help from Patty to request one, please contact her and she’ll be happy to assist you!

When emailing a friend or associate who is a Dare County employee, please note all county staff emails end now in .gov rather than .com.

Music speaks volumes – instrumental compositions without a single word spoken somehow communicate with our hearts, our minds and our souls. There is one (of many) that is beautiful and very moving. If you get a chance, look it up on the internet or YouTube because it’s short but packs a punch. I typed Voces8 “Hymn to the Fallen” Eventide 2014 and once I accessed it, it further noted John Williams, I suppose as the composer, not certain. The caption shows what looks like a row of trees on each side of the path that leads to the bright guiding light at the end … it made me think of a journey into Heaven … it’s really beautiful! Another one? Gardens of Varanasi – Jeff Oster. Oh my folks, there’s something about it that brings tears to my eyes, honestly. One more … ‘The Americas’ – Logical Drift which may include Book of Love, Vol.1 – if you like to hear music that inspires you, that makes you think deep inside about things, places and people who have touched your life, please listen to these selections. They’ll take you to a different place for sure.

Okay folks, this Gig Line is shorter than usual (aren’t you glad?) but hang in there with me, there’s a lot to share with you all in the coming weeks.

Until next time, be healthy, safe and happy! Love often and love a lot, and with a truly joyful heart. We need to lift up the folks around us and pray for the problems that plague our nation because our nation is going through a lot. Despite it all, we need each other as united Americans – not just Americans.

If you’re a veteran who may have a medical problem, condition or illness that could be service connected, please, please contact Patty at the numbers I referenced above. She can help determine if the ailment could have disability claim potential. Contact me if you’d like to talk, share a story or comment on Gig Line, I’m interested in your thoughts. My email is giglineheroes@aol.com and a website to find many previous Gig Line submissions is giglineheroes.com. God bless and I love you all. Stay tuned!

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