The Pike County Military Support Group has fine-tuned some of its plans for supporting the 1-155th CAB Headquarters Battalion, which is being deployed to Iraq.
The National Guard unit will leave for the Middle East in May after undergoing training at Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg.
“We’re going to start with our public awareness kickoff steak banquet at the Days Inn on March 5,” support group chairman Bobby McDaniel said. “Days Inn and the Summit Piggly Wiggly is sponsoring the dinner, and Wayne Vinson with Piggly Wiggly is providing the steaks and will cook them on site.”
Tickets are $50 for the dinner, which will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and will include state officials, including Mississippi’s adjutant general, Maj. Gen. William L. Freeman Jr. Local entertainers also will perform during the dinner.
McDaniel said 325 tickets were sold for the steak dinner held before the 1-155th’s 2004 deployment.
“A lot of people got their steaks to go, and some bought the tickets and gave them to servicemen,” he said. “We hope the same thing will happen this time.”
The dinner will be followed by a public awareness program March 6 and 7 at the McComb Market parking lot, sponsored by McComb Market and McComb Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
Military hardware and some of the soldiers going on deployment will be at the two-day event, which will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p,m. on March 6, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 7.
“We will also have the rock climbing wall, and jambalaya will be served both days,” said Tina Brumfield, special events coordinator. “We’ll also have a drive-through set up so people can drop off donations or items for the care packages that we’ll be sending the troops while they’re in Iraq.”
Brumfield said country music singer Stephen Cochran and local groups will perform for the visitors on March 7.
The next major event after the March awareness program will be the send-off parade for the unit when it leaves from Camp Shelby on April 13.
Brumfield said organizers are asking county schools and local businesses to attend the parade. She said areas will be assigned for the different groups. Schools and business that attend the parade will be asked to make signs or banners identifying themselves to the troops as they go by.
“We want the troops to know how much the community supports them,” Brumfield said.
Once the 1-155th leaves McComb, county residents will be asked to help the soldiers’ families through the adopt-a-family program, and keep up with the needs of the families and help them through the deployment.
One special event already planned for the families is a picnic near Easter. The event will feature tethered hot air balloon rides for the children on the Southwest balloon.
McDaniel said the support group now has yard signs available for county residents, and said the group is still looking for volunteers.
The support group meets every Monday at 5 p.m. at the National Guard Armory on West Street.
“The meeting is open to the public,” McDaniel said. “Anyone interested in volunteering is welcome. We have a lot of committees and we’re always looking for more help.”
Anyone interested in joining the Pike Military Support Group can call McDaniel at 249-7033.
