Exchange Club members got a sneak peak of the 2020 Lake Highlands Military Heroes poster at their last meeting, just before the posters are distributed to businesses around the community for display. The newest version includes 50 military members serving in various parts of the world who live in Lake Highlands, graduated from LHHS or are spouses of LHHS grads.
The posters were conceived in 2006 by John Dean and Rhonda Russell, then presidents of the Exchange Club and the Military Moms, and sponsored by the two organizations. This year they worked to regenerate the project, and Exchangite Bill Dunham created the design.
Russell’s son, Lee Jr., was on the original poster while serving in Iraq, and she recalls the response it received in 2007.
“We were at war, and we had people fighting. I would watch people go up to the poster to look, and they’d walk away, wiping their eyes.”
“The Exchange Club of Lake Highlands stands for two primary values – service and community,” said Christopher Poteet, ECLH past president. “There is no better way to honor both than in recognizing our local heroes.”
The Exchange Club has 175 members and meets each Friday morning at 7 a.m. at the KayCee Club on Shoreview. You can learn more here.