T-R PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ The Marshalltown-based Central Iowa Quilt Sew-ciety (CIQS) will host its fourth annual autumn Quilts of Valor ceremony at 2 p.m. on Nov. 3 at Evangelical Free Church, 3111 S. Sixth St. Thursday afternoon, group members prepared and organized the quilts, left to right: Marvis Drew, Terry Shepard and Leslie Renaud.

The Marshalltown-based Central Iowa Quilt Sew-ciety (CIQS) will host its fourth annual autumn Quilts of Valor ceremony at 2 p.m. on Nov. 3 at Evangelical Free Church, 3111 S. Sixth Street.

Group members spent part of Thursday morning preparing and organizing the quilts. This year, 16 local veterans will each be presented with quilts made by members of the CIQS.

“We have a variety of veterans — people who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War and others,” Program Director Marvis Drew said.

The following veterans will receive a quilt: Ron Nauman, Loren Conrad Sr., David Heng, Doug Gethmam, Pat Sears, Roy Bradbury, Raymond Gould, Dennis Fish, Ray Airey, Richard Thompson, Pelenatete S. Waddilove, Brad Rozell, Benjamin Fuller, Ronnie Stevenson, Shelby Pennington and Jamie Gargas.

“Once these quilts are presented we will have made 156 quilts for veterans since starting this four years ago,” Drew said.

The program will include music and guest speakers. It is free and open to the public.

The CIQS does two public quilt presentations every year, one in the spring and one in the fall, plus private events.

The group estimates the cost of completing a Quilt of Valor to be around $200 each. Members are currently making patriotic tote bags and purses to sell for fundraising purposes. Contributions may be sent to the CIQS at: P.O. Box 1755, Marshalltown. To learn more, visit centraliaquiltsew-ciety.webs.com. Drew may be reached at marvisd@heartofiowa.net

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz at

641-753-6611 or sjordan@timesrepublican.com