The Hank Williams Festival will get some free publicity this spring while helping out those who have served our country.

Veterans at the W.F. Green Veterans Home in Bay Minette will receive 12 dozen Hank Festival T-shirts, says Hank Museum director Margaret Gaston.

“We got the idea through our local United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter, when we were delivering Valentine’s Day gifts to them,” Gaston said.

The UDC ladies asked the staff at the veteran’s home what items the retirees could use the most.

“They told us T-shirts, especially larger sizes, and I thought of the extra T-shirts we had from last year’s festival,” Gaston said. “And so I asked Mike (Middleton, Georgiana’s mayor) and he said, ‘Sure,’ and so we are doing it.”

Gaston said helping the veterans will also be a help to the city of Georgiana and its annual Hank Williams Festival.

“This is good for us, and it’s good for them,” she said. “They get a nice T-shirt and we get to promote our festival.”

“I thought it was a great idea. We always want to support our veterans however we can,” said Middleton.

This year’s festival is set for Friday and Saturday, June 11 and 12 at Hank Williams Music Park in downtown Georgiana. For more information, visit www.hankwilliamsfestival.com.