When George Benford is hurrying through airports and sees service members in uniform, he stops to greet them and says, “Thank you.”
On Monday, Benford will be saying “Happy Birthday” instead.
That’s because Charlottesville is celebrating the U.S. Army’s 235th birthday with a procession along the Downtown Mall, a concert of patriotic favorites by the Charlottes-ville Municipal Band, fun for children and families and lots of birthday cake.
If you haven’t thanked a service member lately, well, here’s your chance, because you’ll be able to join Benford in signing a gigantic birthday card for troops overseas.
“It’s really a time to say thank you and have fun,” said Benford, owner of Siips Wine and Cham-pagne Bar, who’s on the steering committee.
Young visitors can slip on a set of dog tags made for the occasion, climb into an H3 Humvee and enjoy other activities. There will be a procession along the Downtown Mall starting at 6:15 p.m. Brig. Gen. John W. Miller II, commandant of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, will be the keynote speaker. And be sure to save some room for birthday cake, because bakers in restaurants, stores and home kitchens across town will be firing up their ovens and piping icing.
The Charlottesville Municipal Band will play at 6:30 p.m. at the Charlottesville Pavilion.
Steve Layman, the band’s music director, said that listeners can expect to hear “American Heroes,” a musical salute to the armed forces, as well as “America the Beautiful” and a variety of John Philip Sousa marches.
Of course, the band will play Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” because Monday also happens to be Flag Day.
“It’s a coincidence,” said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Hartzell, station commander for U.S. Army Recruiting. (History buffs will remember that a neighbor to the west, President Woodrow Wilson, established the national recognition of Flag Day in 1916.)
Hartzell and Benford said the bash wouldn’t have happened without a community effort. Bob Stroh of the Downtown Business Association came up with the idea, and Kirby Hutto, general manager of the Charlottesville Pavilion, made the venue available. Andrea Copeland and National Business College donated thousands of bottles of water to wash down all that cake. Ric Barrick, the city’s director of communications, worked hard to make things happen, too.
And Hartzell said there will be a moment that’s bound to touch hearts: Between 20 and 40 people will take the oath of enlistment to join the Army.
AT A GLANCE
Celebrating the 235th Birthday of the U.S. Army
6:15 p.m. Monday
Charlottesville Pavilion
Free
970-3129
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