To the editor:

The Union National Guard unit and its Family Readiness Group sponsored the annual Family Day for Soldiers and Family Members on the afternoon of July 12. This year the event was held at the Veterans Park picnic area in the City of Union.

We were blessed with mild weather that afternoon and had a highly successful event. I would like to publicly thank Mayor Thompson and Debbie Woodard of the City of Union and Becky Cobb of the recreation department for their support. Also, thanks to Holcombe Funeral Home for the additional tents for shade and to the Parties R Us staff for the children’s entertainment.

While a majority of our soldiers are local, it should be noted that many of our current soldiers and families come to us from communities outside of Union. We have a number of families that traveled from the areas in the lowcountry of South Carolina and even some from Georgia and North Carolina.

In saying this, we received many positive comments concerning the park and the Union city and county community in general. I heard a couple of “I wish we had a park this nice in our town” comments and several overall positive statements concerning the growth on the by-pass, new schools being built, the completion of the Timken Sports Complex and the beauty of the revamped downtown area.

In these tough economic times it is reassuring to know that people from outside of our community recognize the many positive elements that do exist here and it reminds me of how fortunate those of us who do live here are to call Union our hometown.

Steve A. Sinclair

Sergeant First Class, SCARNG

event coordinator