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Campbell County recently featured in Tennessee Counties magazine
By Charlotte Underwood
JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF)- Campbell County was recently featured in Tennessee Counties magazine, a publication of the Tennessee County Services Association. The magazine featured the county’s Veteran’s Appreciation Breakfasts that are held monthly at the Jacksboro First Baptist Church and quarterly in Jellico at the Newcomb Baptist Church.
According to the article in Tennessee Counties, the “initiative “honors Campbell County’s 2,600 plus veterans while also helping them draw down federal benefits that contribute $180 million annually to the local economy. It’s now seen as a good model of community-driven support and sustainable service delivery.”
County Mayor Jack Lynch said it was “nice for the county to be recognized statewide for a project honoring our veterans.”
The appreciation breakfasts began in early 2023 and since then have served hundreds of veterans and their families, which are invited to attend the monthly events.
The idea to host a monthly breakfast event for veteran recognition was born out of a conversation between Lynch and Caryville business owner Roger McCarter.
Each event is hosted by the county and sponsored by a local business or organization. BSA Scout Troops present the colors and help serve food, along with other volunteers, and there is a guest speaker for each event as well. County Mayor Lynch and Veteran’s Affairs Director Shane Prater (423.562.3531) often deliver veteran benefit updates at events.
It is held at Newcomb Baptist Church four times a year on the second Saturday of each quarter, March, June, September and December of each year. It is held monthly at the First Baptist Church in Jacksboro on the first Saturday of each month. This February marks the 47th overall appreciation breakfast held.
The county has already secured sponsorships for each event in 2026.
According to organizers, there are usually more than 100 veterans that attend each breakfast, and the hope is to have more come each week.
Lynch said the event is about honoring veterans and giving back to them.
“We keep it nonpolitical and keep it what it should be, an Appreciation Breakfast for our Veterans, to show our appreciation for your service and dedication to our country. We are very pleased and thankful for all the businesses and organizations that have sponsored these breakfasts,” Lynch said.
Veterans Services Director Shane Prater encourages vets to come to the breakfasts and also to come see him at the local VA office with any questions or for any benefits they may not be getting.
County Mayor Lynch said he was proud of the program and the support it has achieved.
“I am especially proud of our commissioners who have been there every month to support the program. Our very important volunteers like the Scouts, Judge Elizabeth Asbury, Melinda Petree and others who always show up ready to work. Roger McCarter has also been instrumental in organizing each event,” Lynch said.
He also said he was proud of how the event and support for it has grown.
“We started these Veteran’s breakfasts three years ago and they keep growing. It’s something our veterans deserve, and we are proud to be a part of it and proud to partner with our local businesses and organizations to provide these breakfasts for our vets in the community,” Lynch said.
Vice Mayor Brown said veterans “would find a good meal, good fellowship and friendship” at each veteran’s breakfast event.
“It’s an honor to recognize our veterans and their families each month. We are so thankful and appreciative to the community and the sponsors, but most of all to our veterans and the sacrifices they have made. Our veterans deserve all the gratitude, thanks and recognition we can give them. I hope the veteran’s appreciation breakfasts can continue for many years to come in Campbell County,” Brown said.
The next Veteran’s Appreciation Breakfast will be held on Saturday, February 7, at the First Baptist Church in Jacksboro from 8 am to 10 am. This month’s event is sponsored by People’s Bank of the South. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-01/27/2026-6AM)
Here is the story from Mayor Lynch’s office of how the Veterans Appreciation Breakfasts originated.
A monthly recognition to our Heroes
Campbell County Veteran’s Appreciation Breakfast
What started as a late evening roundtable discussion in January 2023 involving long-time friends Campbell County Mayor Jack Lynch and Romac Self Storage business owner Roger McCarter alongside Campbell County Commissioner’s Johnny Bruce and Rusty Orick, Campbell County Deputy Mayor Randy Brown and retired United States Army Colonel Marvin Bolinger embarked on a journey that began in March 2023 that has now completed 40 Veterans Appreciation Breakfasts to date in the Campbell County community.
Today, more than 150 veterans and their family members gather the first Saturday of each month in the gymnasium at Jacksboro’s First Baptist Church, and over 60 veterans and their families come together for fellowship quarterly at Crouches Creek Missionary Baptist in Jellico and Newcomb First Baptist Church as the community shows gratitude, recognition, honor, and appreciation for the service and sacrifices made by the veterans of Campbell County.
The Campbell County Mayor’s Office coordinates getting a community sponsor each month who then selects a caterer to provide the food for the breakfast. The Campbell County Mayor’s Office and the County Commissioners meet the Friday evening prior to each breakfast to set up tables, chairs, and provide decorations for the Saturday morning program. A welcome table from the Campbell County Mayor’s Office staff, County Commissioners, and community volunteers greet the veterans and their family members with printed programs of news, pictures of past events, and a ticket for door prize drawings. The visionary behind the Veteran’s Appreciation Breakfast Roger McCarter is always the first person in the door making sure the coffee is brewing as the cars fill the parking lot.
Local Scout troops present the colors and Pledge of Allegiance at each breakfast event and they help set up all the tables and chairs to conclude the day’s activities, locking the doors alongside the church pastor. In between the young scouts roam among the veterans in the crowd to bring plates of food and drinks and deliver prizes from the door prize drawings to their tables. It’s an amazing site to watch this room full of veterans during the prayer and how they respond when the American flag is presented and the Pledge of Allegiance is recited. As the veterans remove their caps for prayer standing tall to salute the flag, and hearing every word of the Pledge of Allegiance stirs the crowd every time, as does the moment of silence to honor those who gave all as veterans stand to their feet, their hats removed, and heads bowed as they understand like no other the sacrifices one has given to something bigger than oneself.
Sponsors tell of their company stories and why they sponsored the breakfast. The Director of Campbell County Veteran’s Affairs Office, Shane Prater, along with Campbell County Mayor Jack Lynch dons the podium each Saturday keeping the veterans updated on community resources, upcoming events, and their benefits they can receive as military veterans. Campbell County has a total of 2,624 veterans. The total financial impact to veterans in Campbell County exceeded 186 million dollars in 2024. Our veterans gain knowledge and access to benefits they otherwise might not know about which provides them and their families a better quality of life. The fellowship, comradery, and new friends formed allows veterans to better help and support one another. The economic impact through community partners and employers will allow the Veteran’s Appreciation Breakfast to be sustainable for years to come.
Door prizes conclude the breakfast with a bang as veterans and family members only, redeem tickets for prizes ranging from mugs, hats, gift cards, and novelty items to leaf blowers, tool sets, mini-grills and televisions to name a few. Each month is something special to see with around a half dozen new veterans attending each time as the master list of Veterans names continues to grow.
Past program highlights have included singing groups, local veteran’s personal stories, musical videos, presentations from Smoky Mountain Service Dogs organization, Quilts of Valor, and a birthday cake and a song to World War II Veteran, John Anderson. The most recent Veteran’s Breakfast was highlighted by a welcome home video from Honor Air Knoxville from their April 9, 2025 Washington DC flight. Twice, William A. Robinson, a member of the Smoky Mountain Chapter of Ex-Pow’s delivered an unforgettable speech about his experience in a Vietnamese prison camp. Afterwards he took pictures with all Vietnam Veterans in attendance as they received a signed copy of his book.
Campbell County sees our Veteran’s Appreciation Breakfast as a best practice in combining veteran’s services to recognize and honor our local American heroes. This program delivery of service has created a sustainable method to better serve our veteran population in Campbell County without costing any tax dollars from the public.