The quilt was presented to Farrar by Dianne Rigato, who represents Quilts of Valor in Alcona and Iosco counties, at a Veteran’s Day celebration organized by township officials ahead of the township board meeting Wednesday night. About 30 people attended the ceremony, 12 of whom were veterans.

Farrar, who was appointed veteran’s representative of the Pleasant View Cemetery in Spruce a little over a year ago, said he didn’t suspect anything ahead of the celebration. He attended the ceremony with his wife, Deborah Farrar, and one of his sons, William Farrar, and spoke humbly after receiving the quilt.

“There are probably so many more deserving veterans in here than me,” he said, noting some veterans were older, some were higher ranking, and some had more dangerous tours than he did.

However, Farrar was thankful to receive the quilt.

News photo by Crystal Nelson Dianne Rigato, representing Quilts of Valor in Alcona and Iosco counties, cloaks Vietnam Veteran Jim Farrar with a quilt Wednesday night at Caledonia Township Hall in Spruce.

During the ceremony, Rigato thanked the veterans for their service. She said they chose to leave their homes, loved ones, and didn’t know where they were going or whether they would be able to come back.

“You had no knowledge when you went what you were going to do, and it’s because you had the courage to do that, that makes me proud to be here tonight, and for us to live under the freedoms that we have lived under for so many years,” she said.

Rigato said Quilts of Valor was started in 2003 by a mom while her son was deployed in Afghanistan. The quilts were initially sent to wounded warriors, but Rigato said the program has expanded to include service veterans no matter what they did, what war they served in, or what service they gave to the country.

“We make patriotic quilts that we award to veterans,” she said. “You can’t purchase them, you can’t win them, the only way you can get a Quilt of Valor is if somebody turns in your name, and after that we make arrangements.”

But for a quilt to be formally recognized by the Quilt of Valor Foundation, the quilt has to meet several specifications, which include being a specific size, having a label with required information, being awarded, and being recorded.

News photo by Crystal Nelson Vietnam Veteran Jim Farrar is pictured with his wife Deborah Farrar, and one of his sons, William Farrar after being awarded a Quilt of Valor Wednesday night at Caledonia Township Hall in Spruce.

Margaret Boyer, vice president of the White Pines Quilt Guild of Harrisville, said the group decided it wanted to make a Quilt of Valor before the pandemic hit and began collecting names of veterans they could award quilts to.

With only three names submitted, when the pandemic began, the guild decided to make Quilts of Valor for all three of the veterans. Farrar was the first of those three veterans to receive the quilt.

In Caledonia Township, Farrar has been working to identify and recognize the veterans buried within the township cemetery.

His work has included locating each of the veteran graves and making sure they have period-correct markers that indicate what war the veteran fought in. He also visits the cemetery every Friday to check on the flags there to make sure they look good.

When he spoke to The News in November 2019, Farrar had identified 170 veterans interred in the cemetery. He has since identified 14 more veterans who are interred there, many who have been there so long no one comes to visit their graves.

Farrar considers the veterans interred there extended family and looks forward to stopping by the cemetery to check on them.

“We’re all brothers and sisters in the armed services, no matter what era we served in or what wars we were a party to,” he said. “It’s my responsibility, I’m honored to do it.”