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Area VFW member's art earns top state recognition
Submitted Photo -- Melissa High School graduate Nicole Denton's 'Spirit of the Fallen Soldier' won first place in Texas in the national Patriot Art program, which annually awards college scholarships to winners. Denton, previously a student at McKinney North High School, is a lifetime member of the McKinney VFW post.
By Chris Beattie, cbeattie@starlocalnews.com
American patriotism beckons a world away from the Middle East. On a canvas.
Through its recent participation in the annual Patriot Art program, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Lone Star Post 2150 pushed DFW to the forefront of that beckoning.
Melissa High School graduate Nicole Denton's "Spirit of the Fallen Soldier" artwork won out over more than 350 entries for first place in Texas.
As did the VFW post's ladies auxiliary, who sponsor the program every year. They selected Denton's painting -- her rendition of the Fallen Soldier Battle Cross -- to be judged against art entries from hundreds of other Texas posts.
"As soon as we saw the entry from Nicole Denton, we knew she had a very good chance of winning," said Almeta Nichols, an officer of the auxiliary. "The picture feels like you can reach out and touch the spirit of the soldier."
A somber arrangement of a soldier's rifle, topped by a helmet and stuck between empty boots, represents a cross on the battlefield or at the base camp of a soldier killed in battle. Denton weaved an American flag around the cross to complete an aesthetic testament to a soldier's life, too often cut short.
She submitted with her art a description of its meaning, an explanation of how inanimate objects left standing alone symbolize "the valor, the courage and the sacrifice of the hero that once wore the boots and the helmet and carried the weapons to war in honor and protection of his country, his comrades, and you and me."
It's a sacrifice Denton knows well. Because of her VFW-member grandparents, she's spent time at the post since she was 12, and became an official member at age 16.
With roots traced back to 1899 when veterans of the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service, VFW remains an ever-present home to past, present and future U.S. military members.
Veterans have formed chapters across the nation, and have been the voice that helped establish the Veterans Administration and create GI Bills for the 20th and 21st centuries, expanding educational benefits for America's active-duty and post-duty service members.
More than 2 million VFW members and its auxiliary annually spend 11 million volunteer hours in local communities and provide close to $4 million in college scholarships and savings bonds to students, according to VFW's national website.
The Patriot Art program is open to any high school student and judged on three levels: by the local sponsoring post, at state and at the VFW National level. The national winner is awarded a $15,000 scholarship.
Denton's artwork earned her a $500 scholarship, which she received last weekend at the state VFW convention in Addison. Her entry finished in the top 200 out of more than 10,000 art pieces nationwide.
"Members, auxiliaries and friends of the post are all so proud of Nicole and her accomplishments," Nichols said. "Being a nonprofit organization, it is always nice to have the recognition for our continued hard work."
While Denton's award will help her pursue a career teaching art, as she desires, her VFW membership seemingly has no price. Often the youngest member, she attends monthly post meetings, cooks for veterans on Fridays and volunteers at the Veterans Affairs (VA) North Texas hospital in Bonham.
"It's not really something other kids get into," Denton said. "I love talking to veterans and hearing their stories."
And honoring stories like that of Cody Board, killed in the line of duty in October 2010 in Afghanistan. Denton and Board were friends at McKinney North High School, where she attended her freshman year.
It's those stories that inspired her art. They fuel the patriotism that pervades VFW posts in DFW and beyond.
They pronounce its beckoning.
"I'm so honored to know these people," Denton said. "I will always be a part of VFW."
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