As the nation prepares to honor those who have served in various military branches on Veterans Day, the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis will be joining in the honorary events, according to the museum’s executive director, Chip Duncan.
Starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11, the museum will be hosting a Veterans Awareness 5K run and walk, followed by a free lunch for veterans and their families starting at 11 a.m. and going until 1 p.m.
The Veterans Memorial Museum is located at 100 SW Veterans Way in Chehalis.
Registration for the run costs $30 per person. All proceeds go toward Veterans Journey Forward, a local nonprofit dedicated to providing care for veterans and connecting them with services which is based at the Veterans Memorial Museum.
To register for the 5K, visit https://www.veteransmuseum.org/event-details/veterans-awareness-5k. Runners can also register in person the morning of the 5K.
Veterans Journey Forward Director Jesse Lloyd said UNFI is partnering with them and will be providing runners with water, Gatorade and protein bars along the 5K route down the railroad trail near the museum.
“We’ll have medals for first, second and third place, too,” Lloyd said.
He added there might be live music as he’s coordinating with local veterans who have bands to see if they can perform that morning.
According to Duncan, the free lunch will be provided by the Centralia Bible Baptist Church in the museum.
“They’ve been partnering with us on Veterans Day to provide a meal … So after people go run, they can go up here and grab some grub,” Duncan said.
Then, beginning at 2 p.m., Tabitha Hopp, a Chehalis resident who recently retired from the U.S. Army as a chief warrant officer 3, will give a speech about veterans issues and the many challenges they face transitioning back to civilian life after serving.
“She served with special forces units in Iraq and Afghanistan. She was a paratrooper, jump qualified and was the quartermaster for the 1st and the 5th special forces units,” said Duncan.
He added Hopp is probably the best speaker he’s seen at the museum, as she previously spoke at a veterans event in 2012.
“She has a phenomenal ability to tell a story. She had the crowd rolling in laughter in one moment, then five minutes later she had them bawling talking about the first casualty they had to deal with,” Duncan said.
Having recently separated from the service herself, Duncan said Hopp is currently trying to start an equine therapy service for veterans here in Lewis County, much like Hope for Heroes in Thurston County.
“We’ve been working with her and her husband, trying to get that program started here so we can have equine therapy locally,” said Duncan, who added, “Part of Tabitha’s story is her horses have helped her tremendously unpackaging her experiences in the military.”
Hopp’s speech may be held inside or outside, depending on weather, Duncan added.
Additionally, Duncan said Gemini Events, which partnered with the Veterans Memorial Museum to host a Trunks with Treats event on Oct. 29, will be donating all the proceeds from a champagne bar at a Ladies Night event it is hosting in Chehalis on Nov. 11 to the museum as well.
For more information on the Ladies Night event, read The Chronicle’s preview of it here https://bit.ly/3SwQMNP.
A nonprofit, the Veterans Memorial Museum is dedicated to preserving the memories and telling the stories of veterans.
For more information, visit https://www.veteransmuseum.org/ or find the museum on Facebook.
To learn more about Veterans Journey Forward, visit https://www.veteransjourneyforward.org/.
