THOMASTON – It was a great evening for a picnic. Mike Miller's Steelin' Thunder played to the crowd on the outdoor stage at the General Henry Knox Museum-Montpelier in Thomaston Sunday, August 28, for the museum's Chicken & Ribs Barbecue from 3 to 6 p.m. In Good Company Chef Melody Wolfertz provided the food.

Proceeds help fund the recent visit of The Moving Wall. According to Tobin Malone, the museum's executive director, the Moving Wall project was contracted through the Vietnam Veteran's Association of America, and terms of the agreement to get the wall did not allow them to sell anything associated with the wall, charge admission or accept donations associated with it.

"It was a $100,000 project,” Malone said. “We raised about $25,000 in in-kind donations and $70,000 cash, so we came up a little short and this event today is closing the gap, so we should be OK after this. This hopefully will pay the last of the bills.”

Steelin' Thunder and .In Good Company donated their time and food for the museum.

Malone said the Moving Wall was a great event.

"We got the 13,000 people we projected," she said. "We just keep getting cards and letters from people. People connected years after not seeing each other, families who had never spoken about one of the parents involvement in the war. They had a Come to a Jesus moment as they described it and they had a very painful week, but in the end they told us it was really worth it because a cloud had been lifted off their families. We just heard nice, nice stories."

Melody Wofertz said she cooked enough chicken and ribs for 100 people.

The salads came from Beth's Farm Stand and the bread came from Fiori, she said.

In Good Company is coming up on their 14th year in business at 413 Main St. in Rockland.

"This makes me feel really good to do this," Wofertz said. "And it's a lot better then being in the kitchen."

Steelin' Thunder is really a community Steel Drum band," Mike Miller said. "We got together about 16 years ago just on a lark and now we're raising money for scholarships, but mostly having fun. If you can sing in the shower, you can play a steel drum. We have about 40 songs in our resume. We're doing this tonight for the museum because they did such a great thing with the Moving Wall."

Malone said coming up next for the museum will be a "Taste of Thomaston" on October 8. The event will be held inside the museum. A first for them.