Patriotic Quilt Contest & Exhibits
Benefit Wounded Soldiers
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jack Hayes, 405-341-8193, 2601 Portofino Pl, Edmond, Judy Howard, 405-751-3885, BuckboardQuilts@cox.net
Re: Wounded Vietnam Veteran Honored with American Eagle Quilt on His Birthday
Setting up a cannon to defend an airstrip, Edmond resident Jack Hayes turned around to return fire when North Vietnam Regulars burst out of the rubber trees twenty yards away shooting. A K47 bullet pierced Jack’s stomach and exited through his back. The Medvac airlifted him to the Saigon Field Hospital where they immediately honored Jack with a Purple Heart, Bronze Star and V for valor, not expecting him to live.
Only by God’s grace did Jack survive that injury that fractured his back along with the Agent Orange that poisoned his organs. Forty-one years later after undergoing thirty-five major abdominal operations to remove his stomach, appendix, pancreas, abdomen and gall bladder, Jack nonetheless radiates the joy of the Lord and praises him each morning for the blessing of life.
For his birthday October 17th, Jack received a replica of a Civil War American eagle quilt top with olive branch in its beak that Kristen Chenoweth’s great-great-great grandmother Mary made for her soldier son Benjamin Franklin in 1862. Benjamin brought that eagle quilt top in a covered wagon in the Land Run of 1889 to homestead in Hinton Indian Territory where it was quilted.
That Civil War eagle quilt now adorns the cover of Oklahoma Heritage Quilts book and is featured in Centennial Stitches—Oklahoma History in Quilts. A smaller version of the quilt is featured in Buckboard Quilt’s God Bless America Quilt exhibit that is touring the U.S. for three years with all profits from the $100 rental fees going to provide quilts for wounded soldiers like Jack. See patriotic quilt exhibit photos and rental information on www.HeavenlyPatchwork.com
“How do I love America? Let me quilt the ways” is the theme of Buckboard Quilts "God Bless America 22” Quilt Contest for children and adults. All quilts will tour the U.S.A. in several exhibits for three years to unify and support our great nation.
These pictorial quilts capture the essence of “America the Beautiful”,
Stars and Stripes Forever" by paying tribute to our American Heroes, Troops, Presidents and depicting “Liberty and Justice for All,” or expressing flag-waving loyalty to our “One Nation Under God.”
With your help, we can blanket the nation with patriotic fervor and love of God and Country in these troubled times.
All profits from the $100/week-end rental fee and possible publication of the quilts go to provide quilts for wounded soldiers— those most in need of the touch of love that quilts represent. See www.HeavenlyPatchwork.com/centennial for photos, entry forms, rental contracts and updates. Reserve your exhibit today by emailing BuckboardQuilts@cox.net or calling Judy Howard at 405-751-3885.
Please mail each quilt to 12101 N. MacArthur, #137, Oklahoma City, OK 73162, preferably to arrive by March 26. Quilts will be accepted through December, 2008 for touring. , “cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land, God bless the U.S.A.”
