Press Release

This past Friday, July 28, the Geauga County Public Library celebrated the opening of the Administrative Center’s new Veterans Resource Center with Geauga County Commissioner Jim Dvorak.

The day’s celebrations began with Geauga County Public Library Director Kris Carroll thanking Commissioner Dvorak for his donation of the Veterans Resource Center’s collection as well as all the Geauga residents who came to attend the Center’s opening. Carroll then spoke of how Commissioner Dvorak’s donation helps the library achieve the goal of serving the community and the veterans of Geauga County by giving them a space for veteran information and resources.

Following Carroll’s introduction, Commissioner Dvorak described why the United States service men and women and their sacrifices resonate with him and his family so profoundly. Commissioner Dvorak spoke of one family member, in particular, who enlisted, served, and passed while fighting for his country in France during the Second World War; he explained that the story of that sacrifice had followed him from childhood to adulthood and inspired a lifelong desire to give back to veterans.

Commissioner Dvorak spoke of how he views Chardon’s Ravenwood Drive as a concentrated area for veterans’ needs as the road contains the Geauga County Veterans Memorial, Geauga County Veterans Services, and Geauga County Veteran Food Pantry. Therefore, the addition of the Veterans Resource Center in the library’s Administrative Center (located at 12701 Ravenwood Dr., Chardon, OH) would only add to Ravenwood Drive’s corridor of representation of and resources for Geauga’s veteran population.

As Commissioner Dvorak concluded his speech, a representative from the Geauga County Veterans Service Commission took a moment and announced that due to his service to the community and his continued support of the veterans of Geauga County, Commissioner Dvorak had been named an honorary distinguished veteran and awarded with a Challenge Coin.^