Skillin-Carroll celebrates Santa Paula’s Honor Guard

Skillin-Carroll associates celebrated Santa Paula’s Honor Guard at a recent barbecue, held to honor not only the Honor Guard, but also “the people in the Honor Guard’s life who back them in giving their time,” according to Manager Vincent Martinez. The idea was inspired by an experience Martinez and his wife Chris had while attending a funeral at Santa Paula Cemetery. Martinez described the Honor Guard presence at that ceremony: “They stood at attention, were very respectful, and appeared to be honored that they were the ones representing the armed services in the Santa Paula community.... We were even more amazed when they folded the flag for the family and went through what each fold in the flag meant. Then when they presented the flag to the family, they did it with such pride and honor, you could see that the family felt the true meaning of what their loved one had done for his country. The final touch was the 21-gun salute, which captured the attention of anyone within listening distance.” It was decided that Skillin-Carroll needed to honor these individuals, “for not only what they do, but how they do it.” During the barbecue, the Honor Guard performed a ceremony to retire their flag, and they were presented with a new flag for future use. A donation was also made to the Honor Guard fund, “so that they can continue their great work.” The lunch was catered by McCoy’s. “We at Skillin-Carroll feel good about the ability to give back to this amazing group of individuals,” concluded Martinez. Photo by Don Johnson