Gerold Wilkin awarded Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal and Certificate; earns first place in arts competition
Hannah Hopper, OVH Volunteer Services Coordinator, presents Gerold (Buzzard) Wilkin with the Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal and Certificate. (Submitted photos)
At the Volunteer Services Committee meeting held at the Ohio Veterans Home (OVH) in Georgetown on Aug. 28, Hannah Hopper, OVH Volunteer Services Coordinator, presented Gerold (Buzzard) Wilkin of Hillsboro with the Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal and Certificate.
The Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal is a military medal awarded to civilians and active-duty members who perform outstanding volunteer service. The service performed has been to the civilian and veteran community and is strictly voluntary. Volunteerism must be of a sustained and direct nature and must be significant and produce tangible results while reflecting favorably on the veterans and their community.
Wilkin has volunteered at the Ohio Veterans Home for over 10 years and has raised over $25,000 for the OVH Volunteer Service Committee that supplies crafts, games and personal needs for the veterans of the home. He also is a life member of the American Legion Post 129, AmVets Post 61, DAV Post 123, Eagles Post 1161, Hillsboro Elks Lodge 361, VFW Post 9094 and Clermont Vietnam Veterans and a member of the Highland County Veterans Honor Guard.
Wilkin is the first Vice-President of the Highlanders Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), representing Highland, Adams and Brown counties. He serves as the National SAR Society as Deputy Representative at the Chillicothe Veterans Administrations Hospital and serves on the Volunteer Committee at the Ohio Veterans Home (OVH) in Georgetown and is the Chairman for the Highland Country Revolutionary War Project.
Wilkin also entered the National Veterans Creative Arts Program at the Chillicothe Veterans Administration Medical Center and was awarded two first-place ribbons and certificates.
The first was in the Drama Division, receiving a “First Place in Multimedia” for his Broken Wing plaque and a poem that Wilkin had written. The second was in the Visual Arts Division, receiving a “First Place in Acrylic Painting” for his Napalm Tree painting.
Wilkin’s “First Place in Multimedia” for his Broken Wing plaque with poem and his “First Place in Acrylic Painting” for his Napalm Tree painting have been entered into the Ohio Veterans Art Exhibition 2023.
The Ohio Department of Veterans Services (ODVS), in partnership with the Ohio Arts Council sponsors this event at the Riffle Center for Government & the Arts in downtown Columbus. The Ohio Veterans Art Exhibition 2023 is on display Nov. 1 through Dec. 8.
