Hastings Air Force Veteran Gary Erickson has been selected as a first-place winner in the 2023 National Veterans Creative Arts Competition. Erickson will be playing the Concertina at the 43rd National Veterans Creative Arts Festival in Denver, Colo. May 11-18.
“I got involved in the National Veterans Creative Arts Competition because many times I miss the camaraderie that I had in the US Air Force,” said Erickson.

The National Veterans Creative Arts Festival is the culmination of VA facility competitions in art, creative writing, dance, drama and music for Veterans enrolled in the VA national health care system. At the festival, Veterans exhibit their artwork and original writings or perform musical, dance or dramatic selections in a live stage show performance. Veterans invited to participate are selected winners of a national creative arts competition in which nearly 3,000 Veterans entered their creative expressions in local competitions across 125 VA medical facilities. Judges reviewed over 6,000 submissions and awarded 159 first, second, and third places honors. Four Veterans representing the Minneapolis VA Health Care System were selected.

“As veterans from all branches of the U.S. Military, together we put on a stage show performance for the public. The attendees at the stage show will leave with positive feelings about our nation’s Veterans, community, and nation,” said Erickson, who goes by “Concertinaguy,” about the festival.

VA medical facilities incorporate creative arts into their therapy programs to further the rehabilitation goals for both inpatients and outpatients. This annual competition recognizes the progress and recovery made through that therapy and raises the visibility of the creative achievements of our nation’s Veterans.
This is the fourth time Erickson has been chosen for the honor to play at the festival. His previous tips to perform at the festival were in Kalamazoo, Tampa and St. Louis.
He’s been playing the concertina since he was a child.
“My father played accordions, and I didn’t like the accordion, it was too heavy. I got into the concertinas,” Erickson said.
He graduated from Hastings High School and enlisted in the Air Force.
“I always wanted to go to Europe, but immediately they sent me to Okinawa and from there they sent me to Vietnam in 1972 and 1973,” Erickson.
He saw the world in his service to the country, serving 20 years. In his military retirement, however, his dedication to service hasn’t changed.
“As soon as I could get of there, I didn’t stay any longer,” he said. “I didn’t have time for my hobbies, because I had a family and children and deployments. But then in retirement, I came back to Minnesota and settled down, and my fulfillment is volunteer work. It connects me to others, and it brings fun and fulfillment to my life.”
Erickson has been a member of the Memorial Rifle Squad at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery. He also is a patient escort at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System.
“I love doing it. I drive there and then I come back to Hastings, my home, and the beautiful river. I’ve been in downtown St. Louis. The Mississippi River is beautiful there too. It’s wider. It’s faster. It’s deeper. But they don’t have the riverfront like Hastings, the beauty of Hastings and the walkway. That’s the hidden secret,” said Erickson.
He also likes the way Pleasant Hill Library in Hastings fosters a love of the arts in patrons.
“That’s another hidden secret,” he said. “They have postings of children making artwork, and it brings joy to me to see that, because being involved in something like that, it’s so good for the youth. It’s important to find something that matters to you and follow through with that. Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of inspiration, whatever that is. It could be someone who’s playing the banjo or someone playing the concertina. It could be somebody that can sing well. Then, you’re inspired. You become inspired, and then you follow through with that. It’s not a passive thing. You’re not watching other people do things, you’re actually creating. You’re baking things. You’re dancing. You’re playing music. You’re doing woodwork. It’s important to find something that means something to you.”
He urges people to volunteer.
“If you can find the time, you always get back more to yourself when you help other people. Normally, when I come home to Hastings, I feel good,” said Erickson.
The Department of Veterans Affairs and the American Legion Auxiliary present the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival in a new city annually to raise the visibility of the creative achievements of our nation’s Veterans. The program is also supported by many other organizations both locally and nationally. For more information on the event visit: www.creativeartsfestival.va.gov.
-Information on National Veterans Creative Arts Festival courtesy of Minneapolis VA Health Care System public relations