Save the date! November 7th through the 15th, 2020!
2020 FIELD OF HONOR® ACTIVITIES AND EXHIBITS
We are happy to announce that the 4th annual Field of Honor® will be held again this year as planned at San Gabriel Park! Major events, such as the grand opening ceremonies, large static displays, and the Patriots Ball cannot take place due to the pandemic. However, there is plenty to see and do at the field this year. Masks and social distancing are required to promote safety for all.
THE FLAGS WILL FLY! We encourage everyone to visit throughout the week of November 7 – 15!
Up to 1,700 flags will fly, and there will be volunteers and docents available to take flag orders and repost your flags from prior years throughout the week. There will also be exhibits and activities to enjoy all week in our tent.
NEW FLAG purchases, REPOSTING of your previously purchased flags, and Field of Honor® COLLECTIBLES will be available for sale from Saturday, 11/7 to Saturday, 11/14 from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Field Tent.
In the interest of public safety, the Rotary Club of Georgetown requires masks and social distancing in the tent. We appreciate your courtesy and cooperation in abiding by these requirements for the safety, enjoyment, and benefit for all visitors and volunteers at the Field of Honor®. Thank you!
We ask all who purchase and/or repost flags to pick them up on Sunday, November 15th between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
HERE’S WHAT IS HAPPENING DURING THE 2020 FIELD OF HONOR®
Exhibits
Grab your cameras and bring some tissues! Once again, the 16-foot observation deck is being provided by our sponsor, K-TEK! This year, it will be placed front and center to get a full view of the awe-inspiring flags on the field. Our thanks to K-TEK for providing it!
A Painted Flag on the Field provided by the Rotary Club of Georgetown will be an amazing sight at the forefront of the sea of flags flying in honor of our heroes.
THE WALL OF HONOR display of the fallen Williamson County heroes from Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2011) will be provided in the tent courtesy of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 1919.
Visit “HERO” the Horse from R.O.C.K. – A statue that honors veterans created by a local artist will be displayed all week.
The rendering of the mural honoring a K9 recipient of the Purple Heart – “NEMO” – will be on display throughout the week in the tent at the Field of Honor®. The mural will be painted on the new location of Wag Heaven in downtown Georgetown beginning Veterans Day!
Activities
Tell Your Story with ROOT STORY STUDIOS!
The “Legacy Tent” will be back this year on various days and times throughout the week at the Field of Honor® where Sydney Decker, owner of ROOT STORY STUDIOS and commentator of the Hipp Radio Station will be available to conduct a free 15-minute video interview with our heroes! She will send a copy of the interview to the veteran, first responder, or their family afterwards.
This is priceless family history! Perfect for families to add to their genealogy records or just to preserve as treasured memories! Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity! Reserve your time to tell your story!
Legacy Tent Schedule:
- 11/8/20 – 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
- 11/9/20 – 1:00 to 6:00 p.m.
- 11/10/20 – 11:00 to 2:00 p.m.
- 11/12/20 – 1:00 to 6:00 p.m.
- 11/13/20 – 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.
- 11/14/20 – 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR TIME AT THE LEGACY TENT
A “Dear Hero” Station will be provided by the Vacation Liberty School at designated times to be provided soon. Write encouraging notes to heroes you don’t know, but who will be delighted to receive your note knowing that someone cares about them! Kids can also draw a picture for them or make a card! These messages will either be sent to the places of deployment throughout the world to be given to soldiers, or they will be given to local first responders if addressed to them. This is something the whole family can do to uplift the spirits of those who are near and far that selflessly serve and protect us.
EVENT SCHEDULE
Saturday, November 7
2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. – The City of Georgetown Arts and Culture Programs – Cimarron Hills. LIMITED SEATING! Reservations required. Free event!
Join us at the Georgetown Arts and Culture Program and the Rotary Club of Georgetown Field of Honor® for a special patriotic performance by Wynn Williams of the music composed from the Storytelling Through Music program. This fabulous event will include a sample Field of Honor® flag display, the Presentation of Colors by the JROTC from Eastview High School, and additional patriotic music accompanied by Williamson County Orchestra violinist.
The Georgetown Arts and Culture Program teamed up with Resilient Me Community Based Resiliency Programs, Austin Classical Guitar, and Wynn Williams to provide arts components to the Rotary Club of Georgetown’s 2020 Field of Honor® that include healing and outreach to veterans, military service-members, and first responders through music, visual art, and community engagement in a public art project. The music component of the Healing Arts for Veterans Program, “Storytelling Through Music”, includes adapting stories by veterans into lyrics and set to music by professional musicians from Austin Classical Guitar and country music artist Wynn Williams. The storytelling is designed to help veterans process trauma from their service in the military and is a program in collaboration with the Resilient Me nonprofit that provides resiliency based programs for veterans, military service members and their families.
For more information on this concert, please visit: arts.georgetown.org.
The artistic programming will also feature a service dog themed public art mural designed by veteran/military service member artists selected through the Arts and Culture board public request for proposal. The mural will be painted on the Wag Heaven building in downtown Georgetown – their second location. This is all provided through a grant to the City of Georgetown from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Texas Commission on the Arts. An Exhibit of the rendering by the selected artists will be on display at the Field of Honor® in the tent throughout the week!
Monday – Friday, November 9 – 13
VIRTUAL School Field Trips!
Local students will have an opportunity to participate in a virtual environment to “visit” the Field of Honor® and learn about our U.S. and Texas flag history and the Revolution, courtesy of Williamson Museum. Students will also interact virtually with military members, some of whom will be joining in from deployment duty stations around the world. On another day, they will interact with first responders, and then with COVID Essential Workers. Every student will receive a pocket Constitution of the United States of America, courtesy of State Representative, Terry Wilson.
Flag Retirement Ceremonies will be held every evening at the Field of Honor®. The American Heritage Girls and the Boy Scouts will conduct these respectful and solemn ceremonies. Drop off your tattered flags at Mel’s Lone Start Lanes or at the Field of Honor® to be properly and honorably retired. Take your tattered flags Friday and Saturday at 6:00 p.m. to participate in retiring those flags.
Wednesday, November 11
On Veterans Day, we solemnly honor our all our nation’s Veterans; those who returned home, and those who did not. The bell will be rung 11 times at 11:11 a.m. in commemoration of the observance of the signed armistice when guns fell silent following World War I, and in honor of those who have served, and currently serve in wars and battles around the world. At approximately 11:20 a.m., there will be a flyover provided by the Falcon Flight team of pilots in a missing man formation. A wreath will be placed in front of the new painted flag on the field (courtesy of The Flower Box) in honor of all our fallen and past heroes, and the complete poem, In Flanders Field, will be read aloud in honor of all our military heroes, past and present, followed by the playing of TAPS.
Falcon Flight is a Texas-based formation flying team, founded in the early ’90s. Their mission is to demonstrate and pass on the skills of precision formation flying. To learn more about them, visit their Facebook page at http://facebook.com/FalconFlightTX
Throughout the day, please visit the new Wag Heaven location near the Lark and Owl downtown Georgetown to see the painting of the new mural depicting NEMO, one of the 5 top K9 military heroes recognized for bravery and service.
Sunday, November 15
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. – FLAG PICK-UP DAY!
Pick up your flag(s) at the Field of Honor®! Remember that flags MUST be picked up by 5:00 p.m. Bring back your flags (in perfect condition) to be reposted next year for a donation of only $20.
NOTE: Flags not retrieved become the property of the Rotary Club of Georgetown.
SUSPENDED FIELD OF HONOR® EVENTS FOR 2020
In the interest of public safety, the following events and programs usually provided during the week of the Field of Honor® have had to be suspended. But hopefully they will be back in 2021!
Please do thank all our event partners who have worked hard to offer these events that must now be suspended for this year.
Central Texas Philharmonic Orchestra – Field of Honor® Concert at the Klett Performing Arts Theater. This patriotic concert promised to be an uplifting event in collaboration with the Field of Honor®. We plan to have this event for the 2021 Field of Honor®!
Nathan Chapman Honor Walk In collaboration with the Field of Honor®, The SERTOMA Club of Georgetown has held the Nathan Chapman Honor Walk. Let’s make the 2021 event a huge success!
Opening Ceremonies: A Celebration of Heroes Usually the Rotary Club of Georgetown presents a spectacular opening ceremony along with static displays of military tanks and vehicles from Fort Hood, cannons from the Sons of the American Revolution, Police, Sheriff, EMS, SWAT and other tactical vehicles, K-9 demos, the Resource Expo, a B-25 Devil Dog fly-over, dignitaries, marching bands, Patriot Guard Riders, and much more! We hope to resume this tradition in 2021!
Patriots Celebration – NOT your grandmother’s Gala! The culminating “Boots and Bling” event of the Field of Honor® celebrates heroes, awards the Rotary Club of Georgetown’s Patriot of the Year, provides a sumptuous meal, and encourages you to kick up your heels to the music of a great band! Silent and live auctions and other fun elements add to making it an event that is unlike any other fundraiser. We hope to make next year’s Patriots Celebration a HUGE event that will be unforgettable! Be sure to check back in May of 2021 for details!
School Field Trips are fun and educational!
