Mike Maloy is active in a local veterans organization and is something of a classic car enthusiast, so he and his son turned out on a chilly Saturday morning at Sandy Plains Village for a first-time event that blends both of those interests.
For D.J. Little, the co-owner of a fitness business at the shopping center, this is the start of what he envisions becoming an East Cobb Veterans Day tradition.
He and his wife Stephanie, who opened the Club Pilates East Cobb at 2960 Shallowford Road exactly a year ago, decided to celebrate that anniversary and honor veterans with a “car cruise” event that also raised money for veterans in need who are stationed at the Dobbins Air Reserve Base.
It’s part of the Littles’ community outreach that’s done every month out of their business. For November, the beneficiary is the Top Three program at Dobbins, where Master Sgt. D.J. Little is on active duty.
“We just wanted people to be here,” he said, after the inaugural event drew around 40 people, many of them veterans, and featured a dozen or so classic cars, including his own 1973 Gold Duster 340. “It’s going to get bigger.”
Top Three provides food and other assistance to veterans who are disadvantaged or otherwise in need. Little said “it’s been a rough couple years” for some of those veterans, with situations that have included suicide.
Maloy, an East Cobb resident and retired design engineer with the Georgia Department of Transportation, came to Saturday’s event with his son Chuck, a Pope High School graduate who works at the Kroger next to Club Pilates.
Military service is a family tradition. The elder Maloy’s 99-year-old father-in-law is a World War II veteran, and their plans for later Saturday included attending a Veterans Day event at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre on the Marietta Square.
Having something like this on Veterans Day, so close to home, “is fantastic,” he said.
Maloy also lends a hand with those efforts at Dobbins. He’s a Vietnam veteran, and received a Purple Heart after being wounded in the shoulder when his gun truck convoy was attacked in 1968.
At a Purple Heart chapter in Alpharetta, he and others raise funds for food baskets for those at Dobbins who need some help paying bills. His group also visits veterans who need company and other support.
A silent auction at the Club Pilates event also raised funds for the Top Three program.
Little, who’s lived with his wife and children in East Cobb for four years, wanted to do more than run in the occasional 5K sponsored by Top Three.
He said the outpouring of support, even for a first-time event, was gratifying.
“We wanted to do more in our community,” he said. “We want to be involved in East Cobb. The support has been just great.
“We’re going to keep doing this from now on.”
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