Friends of the Arts honors veteran with Quilt of Valor
he Greater Fort Myers Beach Friends of the Arts awarded Vietnam era Army veteran Joe Kosinski, a former Fort Myers Beach Councilmember, a Quilt of Valor recently at the Fort Myers Beach Library.
Dozens of people attended the ceremony and to see the quilt revealed, which had been put together by the Fort Myers Beach Friends of the arts and a group of volunteers. Mrs. Arlene Pulner, the NSDAR National Vice Chair Honor Flight, DAR Service for Veterans Committee gave a short talk on how the Quilts of Valor Foundation began. She also presented Joe with a Quilts of Valor Foundation certificate and a 50th Vietnam War commemorative pin.
“The day turned out to be far more emotional than anyone expected, especially as this was the first time a veteran has been awarded a Quilt of Valor on Fort Myers Beach,” said Laurie Nienhaus, of the Fort Myers Beach Friends of the Arts. “There is an Honor Flight now in Joe’s future.”
Jessie Titus, a Fort Myers Beach Friends of the Arts member, said the organization recently began reforming in recent months after taking a hiatus after Hurricane Ian. They decided they wanted to honor a local veteran and looked into the Quilts of Valor Foundation. Titus knew Kosinski from his time on the Fort Myers Beach Council but didn’t know his background serving in the military. Upon learning of his service, Titus said the organization reached out to the Quilts of Valor Foundation about going about honoring him with a quilt.
“It was a big process, down to the material used,” Titus said. The organization had detailed requirements about how the quilt was made. Titus credited Nienhaus with designing the pattern and a group of members of the Fort Myers Breach Friends of the Arts and other volunteers joining together at St. Raphael’s Episcopal Church to cut the pattern and to complete the quilt designed pattern. Titus said it took about a month to complete the quilt.
Titus said the Fort Myers Beach Friends of the Arts is “starting to come together,” and is planning an art exhibit at the Fort Myers Beach Library in January. They also have a long-term goal of a scholarship for local students, a fund they hope to name after the nonprofit group’s late co-founder Al Durrett.