Kenosha County hosts inaugural Veterans Appreciation Picnic

About 150 people turned out Friday for the inaugural Veterans Appreciation Picnic at the Kenosha County Veterans Memorial Park.

County Executive Samantha Kerkman hosted the event for veterans and their families, with support from the county Division of Veterans Services and the Division of Parks.

MISSION BBQ in Kenosha provided free lunch for the guests, while transportation from the American Heroes Café at Festival Foods in Kenosha was offered courtesy of Dousman Transport.

“Really, what today’s all about is thanking you and showing you what’s available at this beautiful park,” Kerkman told the crowd.

The Kenosha County Veterans Memorial Park is located on 335 acres west of Highway KD and north of Highway F in the towns of Randall and Wheatland. Park amenities include the Veterans Honor Plaza, the 39-acre Freedom Lake and more than five miles of walking trails.

Now under construction and expected to open this summer are a permanent restroom facility near the honor plaza and a shelter honoring Army veterans. The latter is the first of a series of planned shelters that will be dedicated to all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Learn more: More details about the park are available at https://www.kenoshacounty.org/1658/Kenosha-County-Veterans-Memorial-Park, and more information about the Kenosha County Veterans Service Office is at https://www.kenoshacounty.org/368/Veterans.

Veterans and their supporters are also encouraged to visit the Kenosha County Veterans Honor Portal — an online tool that includes Tribute Trail self-guided tour of veteran landmarks across the county, as well as the Veterans Honor Registry, a place for Kenosha County veterans and their families to share their stories of service. A Veterans History feature also debuted recently. The portal is available at https://www.kenoshacounty.org/VeteransPortal.