The Walterboro Civitan Club held its November 13 meeting at Dukes Barbecue. The meeting was called to order by the ringing of the bell. After recitation of the Civitan Creed, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Invocation, Civitan President Tom Whitacre led the meeting.
The Civitans invited veterans from the community and honored them at the meeting.
Donald Davis gave a presentation about the development and construction of the War Memorial in Walterboro. The park on East Washington Street was dedicated on May 28th, 1990, with Bernard Warshaw as the Master of Ceremonies. Dignitaries attending the dedication included Walterboro Mayor Harry Cone, United States Senator Ernest F. Hollings, United States Congressman Arthur Ravenel in addition to local council members. The memorial has monuments for World War 1, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Global War on Terrorism. Davis told the history of the concept, and the effort to construct the monument from its inception in 1989 to its dedication in 1990.
Davis also told the history of his uncle, Sammy Knight who was a Batan Death March survivor. The Army Air Corp/Airforce veteran was a resident of Colleton County and managed the Mary Carter Paint Store.
With more than 30,000 members worldwide, Civitan International is a global organization dedicated to serving the local communities of its members. Using the structure of building local clubs, Civitan equips its members to address local needs with local solutions.
Civitan is the only service organization dedicated to serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). This long-standing focus began as a local project in Baltimore in the 1940s when Civitan began funding specialized teachers in schools. In 1956, Civitan membership unanimously adopted service to I/DD as the major project focus of the international organization. Today, Civitan supports the Civitan International Research Center in Birmingham, Alabama where more than 100 researchers work on diseases that impact the lives of 1 in 6 people worldwide.
