TR PHOTO BY MIKE DONAHEY - U.S. Navy and World War II veteran Loren Conrad of Albion is pictured receiving his Quilt of Valor Saturday at the local E-Free Church. Assisting are members of the Central Iowa Quilt Sew-ciety.

The many talents of the Central Iowa Quilt Sew-ciety (CIQS) were on display Saturday at the local E-Free Church as 16 veterans received Quilts of Valor.

Members of the CIQS devoted hundreds of hours of work to assemble the quilts each as unique as the veterans themselves.

A standing room only crowd in the church hall heard each veteran’s story, from men and women, young and old, representing nearly all military branches and armed conflict from World War II to The War on Terror.

The event was free-of-charge and open to the public.

Veteran Shelby Pennington, who joined the Armed Forces after the 9/11 attacks, was awarded the organization’s 150th quilt.

“We are forever in your debt,” CIQS President and co-emcee Pam Blake said “And we thank you from the bottom our hearts.”

The ceremony began with a Presentation of Flags by the Marshalltown Joint Veterans of Foreign Wars/American Legion Honor Guard followed by a medley of toe-tapping patriotic songs performed by the Heart of Iowa Chorus.

Rev. Alan Dietzenbach of the local St. Mary Church gave the invocation.

Quilts were presented in the order in which the conflict the veteran served.

For example, first to receive a quilt was U.S. Navy and World War II veteran Loren Conrad. He served from 1944-46 overseas and stateside.

Last was U.S. Marine and War on Terror veteran Jamie Gargas. He is now an educator at GMG.

Other recipients were: Ronald Nauman, Roy Bradbury II, Raymond Gould, David Heng, Richard Bruce Thompson, Ples (Pat) Sears, Dennis Fish, Doug Gethmann, Raymond Airey, Pelenatete Waddilove, Ronald Stevenson, Brad Rozell and Benjamin Fuller.

Past President Rosanne Anderson served as co-emcee.

Also contributing were the Church of Christ Youth Group and Iowa Chapter of Military Mama Network.

The group estimates the cost of completing a Quilt of Valor to be around $200 each. Contributions may be sent to the CIQS at: P.O. Box 1755, Marshalltown. To learn more about Quilts of Valor visit: www.qovf.org.