Marion Military Banner Campaign video earns gold at Houston International Film Festival

A video created to support and promote Marion County's Military Banner Campaign has earned the highest honor from the judges at an international film festival.

Written, directed, and produced by Terry Cline, owner and operator of Marion-based Challenge Productions, the video "Veterans Banner Campaign" earned a gold Remi Award in the charitable/non-profit category at the 56th annual Houston International Film Festival. WorldFest-Houston, as the prestigious film festival is commonly known, is dedicated to championing the work of independent filmmakers. The 2023 festival was held April 25-30 at Cinemark Memorial City theater in Houston, Texas.

"I've been fortunate to win a few times before at Houston, but this was special," Cline said. "There was a field of more than 40 entrants in the category and we got the gold Remi out of it. I think the video projects Marion in a good light. It promotes Marion. Marion is just like any other city on the planet. We've got our problems, but we deal with those problems and we rise above those problems because there's a lot of good people here."

The veterans banner campaign was initiated in 2021 and was modeled after “a very successful campaign in Kenton,” according to its organizers. More than 300 banners were sold last year in Marion. The communities of Mount Gilead in Morrow County and Galion in Crawford County also have a veterans banner initiative.

The vertical banners measure 2 feet wide by 3 feet high and have a lifespan of 3 to 4 years. Each banner features the veteran’s photograph on it. Those who purchase banners receive two replica banners.

Two Marion County veterans who have been instrumental in the success of the Military Banner Campaign and who helped Cline make the video are Randy Drazba and Frank Hickman. Both men are veterans of the United States Army and served in the Vietnam War.

Cline said he was considering how to best communicate to Marion County that the Military Banner Campaign was getting underway and he had always wanted to film Veterans Memorial Park on Delaware Avenue at nighttime, so the idea just fell into place. He said Drazba and Hickman helped to pull the video project together.

"We chose one hell of a nighttime," Cline joked, noting that when they shot the video in January 2022, it was between 5 and 10 degrees with gusty winds. "The flags were looking great. Randy and Frank pulled it off. Randy was holding one of the banners up and it was just like a sail. A gust of wind almost blew him away. Nobody ever sees Veterans Memorial Park at night, it's always during the daytime. So the video shows it − no pun intended − in a different light."

Cline surprised Drazba and Hickman by presenting them each with a duplicate of the gold Remi Award for their contributions to the campaign and the video. He made the presentation on Tuesday at Veterans Memorial Park.

Drazba, secretary of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1117, said local residents with loved ones who are veterans have responded positively to the program and have supported it very well.

"Last year, we put up 305 banners. Over the winter and the early part of this year, we sold about another 200 banners, so we have just over 500 banners hanging on utility poles around Marion," Drazba said. "The community has really embraced this project very well. We put them up for Memorial Day and they'll stay up until just after Veterans Day and then we'll take them down and put them into storage until next year."

Drazba said members of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1117 decided to honor their fallen comrades who fought in Vietnam by purchasing a banner in their honor for the 2023 banner season. He said when word spread about that proposal, support poured in from all over the community.

"Low and behold, the public found out about it and a lot of (the fallen Vietnam veterans') high school classmates actually funded a lot of the purchases," Drazba explained. "So we really appreciate how those folks came out and remembered their classmates and our Vietnam veterans. It's been an honor to serve on this project. A lot of work, but it's definitely been an honor."

Hickman said the banner project has deep personal meaning for him. He explained his father enlisted in the military in 1940 and served throughout the duration of World War II. Hickman later followed in his father's footsteps and joined the United States Army.

"No community that I've ever been to, anywhere, is more patriotic than Marion, as evidenced by this fine looking Veterans Memorial Park," Hickman said. "The icing on the cake was to bring veterans banners to town. If you want to know the heart and soul of Marion and Marion County, drive into town, look at these banners, look at this memorial, and you'll know a lot about our community."

The Marion County Military Banners Campaign should serve as both a way to honor our local veterans and as a reminder of the great freedom and liberty that veterans have secured for all Americans through their sacrifices, Hickman said.

"It's a constant reminder of what we have as a country," he said. "Or a reminder of what we might not have if it wasn't for all those who have served across the fruited plain."

For information about the Marion County Military Banner Campaign, go to its Facebook page Marion Military Banner.

Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Marion Military Banner Campaign video earns gold at film festival