The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Christy Kienast, The Quill
Blandinsville- The Veterans Memorial Committee have plans well underway to construct a memorial honoring the veterans of the Blandinsville, Sciota and Good Hope communities.
The memorial will be built on Main Street in Blandinsville on a lot given to the committee by the village for this purpose and in addition they have purchased the old Senior Center building.
This building will be razed to further enhance the area where the memorial will be built.
The Veterans Memorial Committee consists of Jim Wyatt, Neil Welsh, Kermit Short, Rick Melvin, Sam Danner, Charlie Hensley, Pat Hainline, Ellen Poulter, Gary "George" Campbell, and Carol Reed.
The committee is busy with fundraising efforts. With a goal of $40,000. The projected date of completion is Memorial Day 2013.
The work on the Memorial will not begin until the committee nears their financial goal. The design for the memorial has been selected, please contact a committee member to see a picture.
They have recently begun selling memorial bricks to be incorporated into the memorial. The bricks are 4"x8" and contain the name and information of the veteran being honored.
Any veteran from the Civil War to the present, as well as those on active duty, can be honored with a memorial brick. In addition, they are selling sponsor bricks.
These bricks are 8"x8" and contain seven lines of print. Sponsor bricks can be purchased by families as well as businesses.
Benches to be incorporated in the memorial are available also.
The committee will also be using the money from the Community Cap event sponsored by Pepsi. The caps are being collected at the Minit Stop in Blandinsville. Every yellow cap that is collected is worth .05 to the community.
There are forms to be filled out for purchase of the memorial bricks. To get one of these forms contact Carol Reed and she will mail the forms to you.
If you would like to support this project with a financial donation contact any member of the committee. Carol Reed (309) 652-3480.
The committee is very excited about this project and hopes the memorial will be something that will bring honor to our local veterans and pride to our communities.