At the Volunteer Services Committee meeting held at the Ohio Veterans Home (OVH) in Georgetown recently, Hannah Hopper, OVH volunteer services coordinator, presented Hillsboro area resident Gerold Wilkin with the Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal and Certificate.

The Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal is a military medal awarded to civilians and active-duty members who perform outstanding volunteer service. The service performed has been to the civilian and veteran community and is strictly voluntary. Volunteerism must be of a sustained and direct nature and must be significant and produce tangible results while reflecting favorably on the veterans and their community.

Wilkin has volunteered at the Ohio Veterans Home for more than 10 years and has raised more than $25,000 for the OVH Volunteer Service Committee that supplies crafts, games and personal needs for the veterans of the home. He also is a life member of American Legion Post 129, Am Vets Post 61, DAV Post 123, Eagles Post 1161, Hillsboro Elks Lodge 361, VFW Post 9094, Clermont Vietnam Veterans, and a member of the Highland County Veterans Honor Guard.

Wilkin is the first vice president of the Highlanders Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), representing Highland, Adams and Brown counties. He serves the National SAR Society as deputy representative at the Chillicothe Veterans Administration Hospital and serves on the volunteer committee at the OVH in Georgetown and is the chairman for the Highland Country Revolutionary War Project.

Wilkin entered the National Veterans Creative Arts Program at the Chillicothe Veterans Administration Medical Center and was awarded two first place ribbons and certificates. The first was in the drama division where he received first place in multimedia for his “Broken Wing” plaque and a poem that Wilkin wrote.

The second was in the Visual Arts Division where he received a first place in acrylic painting for his “Napal Tree” painting.

Wilkin’s first place in multimedia for his Broken Wing plaque with poem and his first place in acrylic painting for his Napal Tree painting have been entered in the Ohio Veterans Art Exhibition 2023. The Ohio Department of Veterans Services, in partnership with the Ohio Arts Council, sponsors this event at the Riffle Center for Government & the Arts in downtown Columbus. The Ohio Veterans Art Exhibition 2023 starts Nov. 1 and runs through Dec. 8.

The Highlanders Chapter Sons of the American Revolution was awarded several awards at the Ohio Society Sons of the American Revolution Summer meeting at the Peterloon Estate in Indian Hill.

The first award was First Place Membership Growth Award for 2022. The Highlanders chapter had four new members.

The Highlanders Chapter was also awarded the Ohio Society OHSAR Partners in Patriotism certificate. This program is for the SAR chapters to partner with any veterans organization in grave re-dedications, grave markings, parades, flag retirements or any program that the SAR conducts with the help from veterans or any veterans organization that ask the SAR for help.

The Highlanders Chapter was also awarded the Wreaths Across America (WAA) certificate for its support of the WAA program at the Ohio Veterans Home and ceremony at the Highland County Courthouse square on WAA day Dec. 16, 2022.

The Highlanders Chapter Sons of the American Revolution was awarded the USS Stark Memorial Award recently at the 133rd National Congress held in Orlando, Florida.

The USS Stark Memorial Award was established to memorialize those men and women who continue to stand at the forefront to preserve the freedoms the nation’s patriotic ancestors fought so long and hard to achieve.

Its purpose is to recognize outstanding chapters and outstanding state societies within the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR) for their participation with the veteran community and supporting activities of the National Sons of the American Revolution Veterans Committee.

NSSAR awards a certificate to the winning chapters based on membership size: 10 to 49, 50 to 99, 100 to 199, and 200 or more. A first-place award may not be won for two consecutive years, though an honorable mention certificate may be awarded at the discretion of the veterans committee.

Highlanders Sons of the American Revolution (HSAR) is a male lineage society whose members are descendants of the heroes of the American Revolution, who established the United States of America. The Highlanders SAR Chapter serves the southwestern portion of Ohio mainly in Highland, Adams and Brown counties. The chapter is highly active serving veterans at the Ohio Veterans Home in Georgetown and the Chillicothe Veterans Hospital.

Submitted by Gary Duffield, Highlanders Chapter president, Sons of the American Revolution.