(Photo credit: Matt Cizek/The Winchester Sun)
A Memorial Day event was held at the construction site of the World War II/Korean War Memorial and drew approximately 200 people.
Thompson Catering provided hamburgers, chips, and soft drinks to the crowd for a modest fee, and all proceeds went to the memorial. Over $5,000 was raised and over 50 memorial brick forms were handed out.
Former Mayor Ed Burtner was the featured speaker; current Mayor JoEllen Reed opened the proceedings with prayer; the Winchester Fire Department posted the colors; the Baker Intermediate School Flag Team, Colton Wilson and Walker Puckett raised the flag; Brian McKinney provided several musical pieces; Don Rose led the Pledge of Allegiance; Taps was played by Ken Henry, and Circuit Judge David Ward read the poem “In Flanders Fields.”
Dee Birkes, Vice-President of the Clark County Veterans Council, served as emcee and closed the event with a prayer.
Fundraising continues
Four grant applications have been submitted with the help of Alyshia Martin. Notification to grant recipients is expected to begin in late June.
Brick sales continue, and a flurry of forms was received in the week following the Memorial Day event. There are still over 600 memorial brick spaces available. If we could sell all these, we would have sufficient funds to complete the project.
We are currently about $30,000 short of the necessary funds to complete the project, but we remain hopeful for a dedication on Veterans Day.