Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #188

Greetings and welcome to the Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #188. We appreciate you stopping by to spend some of your valuable time with us. The elections are over and now we wait. Do you honestly expect to see changes regardless of which party controls each house? Cooler temperatures are moving into East Tennessee with a few nights below freezing.

It is another busy week with a full schedule. The days and evenings are booked up with different things happening. Local neighborhood security team meeting, Bible study group, Ms. Lucy taught a local group of ladies to pressure can chicken, beef, and more. Life is moving through 2022 at a rapid pace towards 2023. We must remind ourselves to also take a deep breath and enjoy the blessing of life. I think we all are guilty to some degree of taking each breath and each blessing for granted.

This is a big week for our military, veterans and families alike with the 247th Marine Corps Birthday and Veterans Day. Several HFS Patriots are former Marine Corps veterans and I salute each of them and their spouses, widows, and children alike. It has been my personal honor to serve side by side in uniform and then work professionally with several former Marines. Congratulations on your services birthday. I can tell you they do live by their motto, Once a Marine, always a Marine. Happy birthday sisters and brothers.

Typically, I am fairly reserved on Veterans Day and opt to stay home in most cases to give thought and remembrance to my 20 years in uniform, those I served beside and some who never made it home. It was one of the most memorable periods of my life. It was truly my honor to serve our great nation and the citizens who make our nation the greatest of all time. Thank you for paying the bill so the many volunteers could serve the period chosen in each of our personal lives.

Ms. Lucy told me about our local High School offering a Veterans Day salute so along with another HFS Patriot family and Air Force Veteran we signed up and attended. I'm so glad we did. It was a very special evening and the youth and their efforts to make us veterans and family members feel special was outstanding. They provided a meal to all of us along with two long tables of desserts which many of the students baked on their own. Each family was presented with a handwritten thank you card, and another large printing of "what is a veteran." I have shared a picture of "what is a veteran" below.

There had to have been over 100 high school youth participating in the evening's festivities. The youth took time to visit the veterans at their dinner tables to attend and talk with us. Here's a picture of the Veterans cake, the assembly of students at the end of their presentation, and a flag painted by the art department and handed out to each veteran at the end of the evening.

Ms. Lucy and I enjoy going to new places and checking out locally owned Ma and Pa eateries as we find them. There was a place she had been reading about that often holds Friday night Rook card tourneys. We haven't made it out for the card tourney but today they offered a free breakfast to veterans. The key word being biscuits and gravy, with eggs and bacon/sausage. It was off the beaten path in the country about 15 minutes from our house. A country store hardware/store. We walked in and found four elderly gents around a table playing Rook at 930 this morning. Three elderly ladies worked the hot grill dressed in red, white, and blue hats and t-shirts. Have you ever visited a new place and immediately felt like it was family around you? I have to tell you; this place was like hitting the jackpot and home for me. It reminded me of places I had visited during my 20-year military career while traveling state to state and pulling off the highway to a country town and looking for the place to call home for the moment. The food was great and the company equally wonderful. It was America. It was hard working people trying to make it day to day. We ended up having a discussion about the condition of our nation today. Concerned citizens talking about what will happen tomorrow. But, on this day I want to say "thank you" for making America great each day. Here is the new place I will visit again soon.

We held the annual HFS Autumn Rally in NC on Nov 5 in Waynesville, NC and had a great turnout. We had about 58 Patriots from 7 states come together. Everyone seemed to enjoy and get something from the classes offered and opportunity to spend time together in person, vs virtually on our different HFS platforms. We got to meet our new HFS family members from Ohio and North Carolina who took time to join us. There is never enough time at one of these events to get quality time with everyone. Thanks to everyone who participated and spent the day with the Hope for Survival family. We also had a dinner post training day and enjoyed over 30 Patriots together for a great meal and time shared. Blessings to everyone.

Here is our annual group photo. Not everyone was available at the time of the photo.

Let us move along....

Training -

Homestead Livestock Summit Registration Page

Self Defense, Self Defense Psychology and Fear Management - November 19 and 20, 2022

Cost: $75.00 Ages 16 and Up - 93 Jones Cove Road, Clyde NC - 10 am - 4 pm

Register at www.pikedantlerproject.com

Regional Training - Skinny Medic

Trauma Class Nov 19 - Easly SC - Skinny Medic Trauma Class Nov 19 | Medical Gear Outfitters

Trauma Class Dec 10 - Easly SC - Skinny Medic Trauma Class Dec 10 | Medical Gear Outfitters

Regional Training - Fruit Tree Series - Univ Tennessee Extension - East TN -(Greene County) - Small Fruit and Home Orchard (google.com)

Hive Life - Sevierville, TN - January 5, 6, and 7, 2023

Henryville, Indiana- Patriot Homesteader Conference - April - 2023