On Veterans Day, Echoes of the Forest will join the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville to unveil a memorial bench carved by Mike Ayers from Helene salvaged wood. The bench honors veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and it will have a permanent home on the medical center campus, a place to sit, rest, and reflect.
The day
The medical center’s traditional Veterans Day ceremony begins at 11 AM on Wednesday, November 11, at the stage area between the medical center and the community living center, weather permitting, and runs until about noon. The ceremony then flows directly into the unveiling, beginning at approximately 12:15 PM. Liisa Andreassen, our founder and executive director, will share the Echoes mission and introduce Mike, and then the bench will be unveiled.
“Every Echo we place begins with a tree the storm took down. To shape one of those trees into a bench for the men and women who served, and to place it where veterans come for care, is exactly the kind of lasting good we hoped this work could do.”
Liisa Andreassen, Founder and Executive Director
The artist
Mike Ayers of Whetstone Woodworks is a chainsaw carver and a veteran. His Echoes work includes Shelly the Box Turtle at the North Carolina Arboretum and the Soccer Cub at Cane Creek Park. The bench is made from timber salvaged after Helene and carries a dedication to those who served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“I served, and I know what it means to have a place to sit and be still. I wanted this one to feel like it had always been here.”
Mike Ayers, Whetstone Woodworks
Join us
We’re honored to be part of this day, and grateful to the VA team for welcoming the bench to their campus. We’ll share photos and the full story after the unveiling.