Lyon College sets community Veterans Day ceremony and luncheon
BATESVILLE, Arkansas – The public is invited to a Veterans Day ceremony hosted by Lyon College in partnership with local veterans’ service organizations at 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 10, in the Sloan Auditorium of Brown Fine Arts Center on the Lyon College campus, 2300 Highland Rd., Batesville.
Keynote speaker will be Lt. Col. Adam Young. Lt. Col. Young was born in Hot Springs, grew up in southwest Arkansas and graduated from Bismarck High School in 1998. At the age of 17, Lt. Col. Young enlisted as an infantry rifleman in Company A 1-153IN, 39th Infantry Brigade at Arkadelphia. He deployed to Operation Southern Watch in Kuwait as a rifleman in 1999-2000.
He graduated from the University of Central Arkansas in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in history and minor in military science. In December 2003, Lt. Col. Young received his commission as an infantry officer through the UCA ROTC.
After attending the Infantry Officer Basic Course in 2004, he was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, as an infantry platoon leader with the 39th Infantry Brigade. Upon returning from Iraq in 2005, Lt. Col. Young continued to serve on active duty as a trainer of units deploying from Fort Hood, Texas.
From 2006-2007 Lt. Col. Young deployed and was embedded with the Afghan National Army as an infantry company team lead, serving in remote areas of southeast Afghanistan. Upon returning from Afghanistan, he began working full time for the Arkansas Army National Guard, where he served in assignments at the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center, Recruiting and Retention Battalion, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Deputy Chief of Staff Operations, the 87th Troop Command’s Joint Services Support and the Human Resources Office.
Lt. Col. Young is currently the rear detachment commander for 2-153IN Battalion headquartered in Searcy. He holds a master’s degree in strategic leadership and is a doctoral student of executive leadership at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. He currently resides in Sherwood, Arkansas, with his wife, Elizabeth, and three children.
Jerry Bowling, instructor of Military Science at Lyon College, will lead the ceremony.
Following the service, there will be a complimentary barbecue luncheon for veterans, family members, and friends on the South Lawn of Brown Fine Arts Center at Lyon College.
While Lyon College will celebrate veterans on Nov. 10 this year, Veterans Day is observed annually on Nov. 11 and honors those who have served and are serving in the U.S. armed forces. Veterans Day has its origins at the end of World War I when at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the fighting ended with the signing of an armistice.
Cathy Drew is a lifelong resident of the region that she loves to promote. She was born in downtown Batesville in the late ’60s, located in one of the eight counties she now enjoys encouraging people to visit.
Drew became associated with the Ozark Gateway Region in 1990 while working at the ad agency (The Media Market Inc.). The agency handled marketing for the regional association, where she and her co-workers produced an annual tabloid publication. She began working as the Ozark Gateway Region director in June 2000.
After Drew became director, she took the region to the next level by helping the tourism organization create a new website and moved it from the old newspaper paper tabloid publication to a color magazine format. She helped open a visitor center for the Ozark Gateway, allowing visitors to pick up information from the entire state 24/7. Over the years, Drew has helped the organization meet new marketing goals, such as in- and out-of-state marketing, assuring that all 100,000 copies of their magazines are distributed each year.
In 2016, she assisted in creating the first Ozark Gateway Region Golf Classic. The tournament continues to grow each year, allowing the organization to expand its co-op program and helping each county have dedicated promotion. Drew stays busy at Ozark Gateway as the ad sales manager, magazine editor, day-to-day office operations, trade show representative, and magazine distribution representative, all while ensuring that the region is represented all over Arkansas and southern Missouri.
Drew was featured in several local and statewide publications over the years, as well as the 1997 cover of the Ozark Gateway Region tabloid, along with her then 4-year-old son, Jon. She has received several awards, such as the Batesville Rotarian of the Year in 2010 and a three-time Paul Harris Fellow.
She also has served as an Independence County election commissioner for several years. She now serves as their co-election coordinator, helping with behind-the-scenes management of voting equipment, day-to-day election deadlines, and poll worker training.
Drew serves on the Arkansas Travel Council Board of Directors, is Batesville Rotary Club Past President, and is the Rotary Clubs’ current publicity chair.
In March of 2018, Drew was honored with induction into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame for her many years of dedicated service to the tourism industry.