Resident upset with haphazard notification for Jackson Day 2008

I found out just a few days ago, mind you, Jackson Day is today, that the Jackson Day theme is "Support the Troops." I would like to talk to the person who marketed this event so poorly. There were no fliers, there were no advertisements, nothing. It was basically spread by wordof mouth.

As a military spouse in Jackson and a lifelong resident whose husband is a member of the Jackson VFW, as well as an active-duty service member, it would have been nice to have a heads-up about this so-called "theme."

We would have been able to get support from the Fort Dix, McGuire and Lakehurst community, resources for any military families in the area, but because Jackson Day was prepared so badly this year, we were unable to do any of that. I guess I missed the miniscule "blurb" in the paper about the planning meetings.

In fact, my husband was only contacted about the parade the day before Jackson Day. He is a soldier and marched in the parade next to his fellow brothers and sisters in arms, no matter what, but I was not able to be there with my family this year.

I am ashamed about how Jackson is "supporting" our troops with this event. I wonder how many people even knew there were going to be bins (placed at Johnson Park) to leave things to be sent over in care packages? How many will be empty-handed? How many even know what goes in a care package?

Were lists provided to the community about what kinds of things can even go overseas? What organization, exactly, is going to be sending these packages, or is Jackson just going to donate them all to someone else? Never mind the fact that our very own VFW in Jackson supports several Adopt-A-Platoons that could use donated items. How could we not use our own VFW, AmVETS, DAV and American Legion?

Not to mention, when my husband came home he informed me that our own Mayor Mark Seda had the nerve to cut in front of the VFW in the parade and expressed no remorse for doing so. Veterans get first honors in all parades.

I was proud to hear that the VFW promptly turned down performing the color guard for the speech portion of Jackson Day and walked out. Way to "support" our troops and veterans, mayor.

What happened to the community I grew up in that supported one another no matter what? What happened to the support this town used to have for our soldiers? When will this town give our military the credit they so rightly deserve? All questions that I can bet I will never have an answer to.
Nicole Wight
Jackson