Approximately 90 people (including 50 veterans) attended the Freedom District Lions Club’s (FDLC) Veterans Appreciation Dinner held in the American Legion Post 223 Hall on Slacks Road in Sykesville on the evening of April 26, 2023. The meal was provided by Mission Barbeque. Lion Rose Young, Chair of the FDLC’s Veterans Services Committee coordinated the event and opened the pre-dinner ceremony (all recited the pledge of allegiance to the flag; Lion Rich Collins le the National Anthem; Lion Myron Horn gave the invocation; and Lion Ed Rothstein handled the introduction and recognition of the veterans present. Following dinner, Lion Ed Rothstein called forward the veteran with the earliest tour of duty and the most recent serving veteran to do the honors of cutting the cake. The keynote speaker for the evening was Col. Ben Palmer, U.S. Army Medical Corps. Col. Palmer is an Army physician who, among other assignments, was a surgeon in Afghanistan.