DAV Officer David Brown, middle, delivers a meal to staff at the Devola Volunteer Fire Company on Monday. (Photo provided)

The rain and gloomy weather didn’t stop the veteran community in Washington County from supporting those who served the area. Although the annual Memorial Day Disabled American Veterans’ picnic was cancelled, representatives and volunteers from the DAV, AMVETS, and Marietta Elks Lodge gathered Monday morning to prepare fresh meals for over 100 individuals.

Washington County DAV Officer David Brown said they had to cancel the picnic but wanted to find a way to honor those who served.

“What better way than to feed the people who have to work on this day and don’t get to enjoy it like we do?” said Brown. “We have prepared about 100 meals for every staffed fire department and police department in the area.”

Brown said they started cooking and preparing the meals Monday morning around 8 a.m. and it ran smoothly because they had so many volunteers.

He said Doug Brown was the lead chef for the event and prepared hot dogs, hamburgers, smoked chicken, potato salad, and banana pudding for dessert.

Volunteers help cook fresh meals for staff at local emergency departments in lieu of the Memorial Day DAV picnic on Monday. The meals were delivered by volunteers to the local fire and police departments. (Photo provided)

“We are hand-delivering these meals and we have teams ready to go,” said Brown. “We called each department and said, ‘How many people are you going to have on staff today because we want to bring them a meal?'”

Brown said it was a logistical effort but the whole process from reaching out to cooking the meals to delivery went well.

“We’ve got so many people helping that it’s not even stressful,” he said. “You know the phrase, ‘many hands make light work.'”

He said they spent the afternoon delivering meals and spending time with the staff who were on duty for Memorial Day.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com

AMVETS Officer Brad Webb stands with an officer at the Washington County Sheriff’s Department while delivering meals on Monday. (Photo provided)

AMVETS Officer Brad Webb, middle, stands with officers at the Belpre Police Department while delivering fresh meals on Monday. (Photo provided)