The Wall That Heals Garner Visit Rescheduled for April 29 through May 2, 2021
The Wall That Heals, a travelling ¾-scale replica of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, will be coming to Garner’s Lake Benson Park in April 29 through May 2, 2021
The Wall That Heals will visit Garner’s Lake Benson Park on April 29 through May 2, 2021.
The event, hosted by Show N Tell Ministries, brings the preeminent replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the area for Vietnam veterans, family members and other members of the committee.
The Wall will be open 24 hours a day and is free to the public.
The Wall is a 3/4 scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and travels with a mobile education center. It will be on display at the Garner Veterans’ Memorial at 921 Buffaloe Rd, Garner, NC 27529.
» GROUPS: School & youth groups are encouraged to visit. Please schedule a time.
» PLAN YOUR VISIT: Find out about what to expect and where to go.
Find our more at garnerwall.com
A Broadway 4th by Show N Tell Ministries
More than a dozen Broadway performers and special guest Voices of Service are participating in a virtual concert to honor the Town of Garner during Independence Day celebrations.
Tim Stevens produced Show N Tell Ministry’s A Broadway Fourth, which will be available on July 1 on Show N Tell Ministry’s YouTube page.
Broadway Comes to Garner
More than a dozen Broadway performers and special guest Voices of Service are participating in a virtual concert to honor the Town of Garner during Independence Day celebrations.
Tim Stevens produced Show N Tell Ministry’s A Broadway Fourth, which will be available on July 1 on Show N Tell Ministry’s YouTube page.
The concert includes leading actors from shows such as Les Misérables, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Rent, Lion King, Wicked, Book of Mormon, Ragtime, Tootsie, Porgy & Bess, Aladdin, An American in Paris, Jekyll & Hyde and Jersey Boys.
Voices of Service gained national attention while competing on America’s Got Talent. They finished fifth in AGT in 2019 and were invited back for the champions event. The group consists of retired U.S. Army Master Sgt. Caleb Green, retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ron Henry, U.S. Army Sgt. Major Christal Rheams and U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jason Hannan.
The group came together the Center for American Military Music Opportunities. They sing to highlight military veterans, active duty personnel and veteran affairs.
“As Voices of Service, we decided to come to ‘America’s Got Talent’ because we wanted to spread this message to as many people as possible,” Rheams, an active duty member of the U.S. Army who graduated from Enloe High School in Raleigh and attended UNC-Chapel Hill, told The News & Observer’s Brooke Cain.
After Voices of Service’s performance, AGT judge Heidi Klum said, “Your voices are weapons — weapons of inspiration, weapons of hope. Thank you very much for your service and for being here one more time.”
Voices of Service on Facebook/Twitter
But most of the 45-minute show centers around Broadway.
The performers sent material from all over the country, ranging from Wilmington, N.C., to Los Angeles.
Mark Vogel, an arranger, conductor, accompanist, and record producer, is the host of the show and teamed with David Burnham (Wicked and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) on three songs.
Vogel also produced a 35-singer version of “Put A Little Love in Your Heart” that is in the concert.
Mark Vogel’s Website
Garner’s Manley Pope was a star in Rent and owns several other Broadway and television credits. He is joined by John Arthur Greene, who also grew up in Garner; Adam Jacobs, Broadway’s original Aladdin; Ron Bohmer, in Ragtime, Les Misérables, The Scarlett Pimpernel, Book of Mormon and several other Broadway or touring shows; and others.
Ron Bohmer’s Website
Adam Jacobs’ Website/Instagram/Twitter
John Arthur Green’s Website/Instagram/Twitter/YouTube
Independence Day in the Time of COVID-19
The idea of the virtual concert started when it became apparent that the Town of Garner would not be able to have its annual July 3rd concert at Lake Benson Park, Stevens contacted the town to see if the town was interested in a virtual Broadway concert. He had done a video when the town’s Memorial Day event was cancelled earlier this year.
Garner Homegrown July 3rd Video Celebration
The town eventually decided to feature hometown talent in its Homegrown Concert, which will debut on July 3rd. Stevens gave the town some of the material that he had collected, including a performance by Scotty McCreery.
Stevens still had enough material for another full show.
“We won’t have the North Carolina Symphony and fireworks, but our community will be able to get close to two hours of entertainment made especially for us,” Stevens said.
For more information contact Tim Stevens, 919-812-5711
Garner Memorial Day Observance Adapts, Undaunted by COVID-19
Garner will have a Memorial Day observance this year and you can see it, even though there will be no traditional gathering of people at the Garner Veterans Memorial.
Garner will have a Memorial Day observance this year and you can see it, even though there will be no traditional gathering of people at the Garner Veterans Memorial.
Show N Tell Ministries, a local non-profit, has produced a 33-minute observance that will be televised on the community access channel and will be available on YouTube, Facebook and through social media. It will be shown at 11 a.m., and 7 p.m., on the access channel and occasionally in the days to come.
(Watch the video above or click here: https://youtu.be/kcabbl2M3WY)
The program features music, film clips from Show N Tell’s historical plays about Garner, and narration about the 66 community men who were killed while in the military service. U.S. Marines Col. Samuel Lee Meyer is the principle speaker. Jimmy Stevens is the narrator.
The video includes music by Steve Amerson, who is known as America’s tenor; Marty Long, The Hall Sisters and Rozlyn Sorrell.
The Garner Veterans Memorial serves as the nexus year-round for remembrance of its fallen soldiers.
“The video came together pretty quickly, in less than a week,” said Tim Stevens, the Show N Tell founder. “I wanted to have something to give to the community to help celebrate Memorial Day. There are some parts I’d like to change, but I think it will have an impact on people.”
Show N Tell also has placed 66 United States flags along the walking trail at Lake Benson Park. Most of the flags have dog tags with the name of one of the community men who were killed while in the military.
“The flags are just a reminder of why we have Memorial Day,” Stevens said. “We’ve been putting the flags up near the memorial on Memorial Day and July 4th for a few years, but moved them to the path last year.“
Garner’s Hall sisters.
Show N Tell also organizes the wreath laying ceremony and Gold Star tree at the Memorial in December and annually produces the Garner Veterans Memorial Salute to the Troops, usually in May.
This year, Salute to the Troops and the Memorial Day observance are rolled into the video event.
Show N Tell currently is producing a virtual July 3rd community celebration that will be shown on cable access and through social media.
Plans Dashed by Coronavirus, Garner Will Apply Again for The Wall That Heals
The Wall That Heals, a travelling ¾-scale replica of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, will not be coming to Garner’s Lake Benson Park in April. The Wall’s display here has been postponed because of the coronavirus.
“The visit hasn’t been cancelled; it has been postponed,” said Tim Stevens, who was spearheading the effort to display the wall here in honor of our community’s Vietnam veterans. “We hope to schedule The Wall to come in 2021 or 2022.”
The Wall That Heals, a travelling ¾-scale replica of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, will not be coming to Garner’s Lake Benson Park in April. The Wall’s display here has been postponed because of the coronavirus.
“The visit hasn’t been cancelled; it has been postponed,” said Tim Stevens, who was spearheading the effort to display the wall here in honor of our community’s Vietnam veterans. “We hope to schedule The Wall to come in 2021 or 2022.”
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund received more than 130 invitations from communities to host The Wall last year and Garner was among the 30 or so communities that were selected.
Stevens said the VVMF would begin accepting invitations for 2021 on May 25, 2020. The VVMF schedules a national tour with The Wall spending about a week at each of the selected sites. This year’s tour was to visit 20 different states.
“There is no guarantee that we’ll be selected again, but I’m optimistic,” Stevens said. “The VVMF has said it will work with us, and the other sites that had to postpone, to reschedule.”
Most of the donations that were made to bring The Wall to Garner are being saved to use when The Wall is brought here in the next couple of years.
“We had already spent some of our donations on advertising and other start up expenses, but every other dollar has been designated for The Wall in 2021 or 2022,” Stevens said.
The committee that worked on bringing The Wall here this year is expected to pick up preparations where it stopped this year.
“One of the best things we did was set our website, garnerwall.com,” Stevens said. “We have tons of information on the site and we are going to keep it active. We have pictures and stories of about 70 area men who went to Vietnam and other stories on the men from Wake County and Johnston County who were killed in the war.”
Ambassador Volunteers Needed for The Wall That Heals Visit to Garner
Volunteers are needed to be ambassadors at The Wall That Heals during its stay at Garner’s Lake Benson Park on April 16 through 19.
Volunteers are needed to be ambassadors at The Wall That Heals during its stay at Garner’s Lake Benson Park on April 16 through 19.
The ambassadors generally will have four-hour shifts during the day and longer shifts at night. The ambassadors will be trained to help guests find individual names on The Wall and to answer general questions about The Wall That Heals and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The training session for all volunteers at 6 p.m., on Wednesday, April 15.
Go to garnerwall.com to volunteer.
Ambassadors will be on hand at TWTH 24 hours a day from when The Wall opens at 12:01 a.m., on Thursday until The Wall closes at 2 p.m., on Sunday.
The Wall That Heals is a traveling ¾ scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. More than 130 communities throughout the United States applied to host The Wall That Heals in 2020 and Garner was among the 34 communities selected to host it.
Able-bodied volunteers also are needed to help assemble The Wall That Heals on Wednesday, April 15 and to disassemble The Wall on Sunday, April 19. The assembly will begin at 8:30 a.m., and usually takes about eight hours. Volunteer are expected to stay until The Wall is erected, regardless of the weather.
The Wall will be taken down beginning at 2 p.m., on Sunday. It usually takes about six hours to take down the wall and pack it in its truck.
Go to garnerwall.com to volunteer.
Garner Community Call: Vietnam Veterans, Share Your Story
The local organizing committee of The Wall That Heals’ visit to Garner is trying to assemble a list of all the community men and women who served in Vietnam.
“But we know that we are missing a lot of Vietnam veterans. We’d like to talk to as many as possible. We plan to have a display at the wall about our local Vietnam veterans.”
Garner’s Tony Warren, a medic in Vietnam, is featured in an iconic Vietnam photograph. Warren is on the ground with a bandaged comrade. Warren is peering into the distance during a fire fight on June 15, 1967.
The Garner community had eight men killed in the Vietnam War and dozens of others in the community served in Vietnam.
The local organizing committee of The Wall That Heals’ visit to Garner is trying to assemble a list of all the community men and women who served in Vietnam. If you served or know of someone in the community who served, please email timstevens710@gmail.com.
“We have the stories of about 40 men from the area who served in Vietnam,” said Tim Stevens, the president of Show N Tell Ministries, which is organizing the wall’s display in Garner.
“But we know that we are missing a lot of Vietnam veterans. We’d like to talk to as many as possible. We plan to have a display at the wall about our local Vietnam veterans.”
The Wall That Heals
The Wall That Heals is a traveling ¾ scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. More than 130 communities made bids to host the wall in 2019 and Garner was among the 34 communities who were selected.
The wall will be at Garner’s Lake Benson Park on April 16 through 19. The wall lists the name of each of the 58,276 Americans who perished during the Vietnam conflict.
The wall is almost 400 feet long and is 7.5 feet tall at its highest point. Once the 140 panels are erected, the wall will be open and staffed 24 hours a day. An LED lighting system ensures that each name is visible at night.
Each name is engraved on the Avonite panels and visitors can do name rubbings.
The wall is accompanied by a mobile Education Center. Garner also plans to have a tent where the stories of our community men will be displayed.
“Last spring, when we presented “Duty,” a play about Garner and Vietnam, we displayed more than three dozen pictures and stories of our community men in Vietnam,” Stevens said. “We would like to add more stories and pictures for the display at the wall.”
Garner’s Tony Warren, a medic in Vietnam, is featured in an iconic Vietnam photograph. Warren is on the ground with a bandaged comrade. Warren is peering into the distance during a fire fight on June 15, 1967.
The photograph was used in Ken Burns’ documentary about Vietnam and was published newspapers throughout the country.
“The picture is certainly worth 1,000 words, but all of the pictures that we have assembled tell their story,” Stevens said. “We want to tell our community’s Vietnam story as well as to honor all those who perished.”
If you served in Vietnam, please contact Tim Stevens at timstevens710@gmail.com.