While all of American will be celebrating the veterans of this country for their willingness to serve and sacrifice for their fellow man, the American Legion Hut in Decatur will host a special dedication ceremony for the new Newton County Veterans Memorial Park in Decatur.
The dedication service, scheduled for 10:45 a.m. on Nov. 11 at the Legion Hut, will include words from two state representatives, and a slide show consisting of Newton County Veterans, according to Johnny Reeves, Newton County Veterans Service Officer.
“We’re going to have a brief ceremony where State Representative Randy Rushing and Senator Tyler McCaughn will speak,” Reeves said. “And as for the slide show, we’ve asked families for pictures of veterans that they purchased bricks for the memorial, and we’re going to have a slide show of each one of the veterans during the event.”
And while Reeves is excited to finally have a dedication service for the Memorial Park, he said there’s still work to be done.
“It’s still an ongoing project, we still have a lot more plans in the future,” he said. “We’re going to add a section for the “Killed in Action” Veterans from Newton County, and we’re still selling bricks. We’ve sold around 600 bricks, and I’d like to see a couple thousand before it’s all over with. Our original plan was for 1200 bricks when we first drew it out, so we’ve only reached half of our goal, so far.”
With his excitement at the opportunity for veterans and their families to come and take part in the ceremony for the county’s new Memorial Park and see it in person, Reeves reiterates that it’s for all veterans.
“The biggest thing is to let everyone know that this park is dedicated to past veterans, present veterans, and future veterans!”
