SALISBURY — A group of Villas on Lash residents honored their veteran neighbors on Saturday, making and serving them lunch along with coordinating live music for the event.

“The question has always been, when you’ve given like these people have given or anybody who’s a civil servant, sometimes the question can be in your heart, who cares? And this is an answer, and it’s an important answer,” said Villas resident Valerie Juleson.

Army veteran Sylvia Brown, Army veteran Jonathan Sabine, Navy veteran Ray Smith, Army and Air Force veteran Alvis Ponds, Marine veteran Ray Burgess and Air Force veteran Roy Richardson, all of whom live in the Villas on Lash, were all honored for their time in the military.

The group of Villas residents began the Veterans Day luncheon last year, led by Dottie Gettinger, who previously ran a home for veterans, called Dottie’s Homes for Veterans. Gettinger said that she and the other residents were talking about Veterans Day at one point last year, a conversation that led them to want to do something special for their neighbors.

“I thought it was awesome. I felt really honored, really, that somebody would plan to do something for you and honor you this way,” said Burgess.

In 2023, the lunch was hosted on Veterans Day, but Gettinger said that because the holiday fell on a Monday this year, the group moved the event to Saturday so that the veterans “could do whatever they wanted to do during the holiday.”

The group went all out for the event, with resident Maura Madas saying that almost everyone involved brought something, including food, desserts, drinks as well as merchandise donations from a Statesville company. They also booked the Salisbury-based band Old Rockers, which is made up entirely of veterans.

They also had the poem “Take A Soldier” by Kelli Hoke framed beside a box full of toy soldiers, which attendees were asked to take. The poem references the toy soldiers, and says that they should be placed in a visible location as a reminder to pray for “all who will go, are gone, have been and those who never made it home.”

“Not everybody does that. Normally you have to go out to enjoy this. We don’t even have to leave (the building),” said Sabine.

Brown said that having her neighbors be the ones to show that they care made the day even more special.

“I’ve been to places where you have to go to all these different ceremonies and stuff like that, but this is a little bit more intimate right here,” said Burgess.

After the veterans walked into the second-floor common room to applause and took their seats, each was served their lunches by their neighbors.

“This is maybe the most important answer,” said Juleson.