The Second Annual Veterans Appreciation and Homecoming Family Barbeque, in conjunction with Veterans information Fair, will be held Saturday, January 30 at the Easton Fire Hall. The Homecoming and Appreciation event welcomes veterans and community members.   Military music, the St. Michaels Museum Fife and Drum Corps, and Bagpiper Randy Welch will perform, as well as an afternoon of music by the Barrel House Blues.  Darnell’s Catering will provide the barbeque.   The event is  sponsored by the Mental Health Association’s Veterans’ Initiative, Wounded Veterans Waterfowl Weekend, Camp Beginnings,  NATRA, Delmarva  Stand Down, Maryland’s Commitment to Veterans, the Bryan Nicholas Spry Fund, and the VFW Posts  5118 and 296.

The Information Fair, or muster, will be from 9:00 am until 12:00, opening with the national anthem sung by Deborah Smith.  Organized by Mike Bargiband, Coordinator for Maryland’s Commitment to Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs, it will provide information on education, health, and employment benefits and services.  A Veterans Benefit Specialist will be present.

The Homecoming Barbeque, taking place from 11:30-2:00, is free to veterans and $5 a person for others.  Mike Bargiband hopes to see many veterans and their families at the event, taking advantage of the wide array of benefit and health information, and others, as well, enjoying the music and the tribute to the veterans.

The Easton Fire Hall is located at 317 Aurora Park Drive, off Creamery Lane.  RSVP by January 28 to the Mental Health Association at 410 822-0444 or email jdavis@mhamdes.org.   Visit the website mhamdes.org to learn more about the Mental Health Association’s Veterans’ Initiative, assisting veterans until their benefits are in place.