Veterans groups, municipalities and individuals are banding together to honor the military service of Newton County Residents with a new Veteran’s Memorial Park along Highway 15, and they need residents’ help to meet their goal.
Families, parents and spouses of veterans are asked to consider purchasing a brick to go in the Memorial Park, which will be engraved with the name of the service member to honor their service.
“The criteria is anyone who has lived in Newton County. They could’ve lived in Newton County and served. The could live here now or have passed on. This is for living veterans, passed veterans, any war from World War I up until the current conflict,” said Johnny Reeves, veterans service officer for Newton County and commander of American Legion Post 89, who is leading the park effort.
Reeves said there are two sizes of bricks available to purchase, a 4-inch by 8-inch brick and an 8-inch by 8-inch brick.
“They’re $40 for a four by eight and an eight by eight is $60,” he said. “On a four by eight, they’ll be able to get three lines, 18 characters per line. With an eight by eight, they’ll be able to get four lines, 18 characters per line. It’ s a little bit bigger brick, so they can get more lines.”
When a family, or individual, purchases a brick to honor their veteran, they can decide what will be engraved. Most people, so far, have chosen to go with the name, branch of service and dates, Reeves said, but it’s “up to your imagination.”
“The bricks are going to be laser engraved, so the name will never wear off,” he said. “If 15,20 years from now the name starts to fade, the brick company guarantees all the bricks. All we need to do is pull up brick and they’ll send us a new one.”
For right now, Reeves said, they have decided to limit the purchasing to one brick per family member to go in the park. However, he said, families are welcome to buy a second brick to have in their home or have one family member buy the brick and have others make a donation.
“We don’t want to have 10 bricks with the same person’s name on it,” he said.
Bricks have been on sale for about 2-weeks, Reeves said, and the community response had been fantastic. Although he brought the idea for the park to the American Legion less than 4 months ago, he said the traction a park has gained in throughout the county has been great.
“We all decided this was something we needed, so we formed a committee” he said. Our committee is, president is Johnny Reeves, vice president is M.L. Henley, Linda Massey is our treasurer, James Rivers is our chaplain, other committee members are Charles Massey, Ray Bailey, Andy Vance and Randy Rushing.”
The committee worked to gather support for the project, design order forms for bricks and find a location, Reeves said. After speaking with the Town of Decatur in September, the Aldermen agreed to donate a strip of land between the American Legion Hut and National Guard Armory along Highway 15.
If everything goes according to plan, Reeves said, community volunteers will start breaking ground on the Veterans Memorial Park in July or August of next year, with a dedication ceremony tentatively planned for Nov. 11, 2019.
“That’ll be Veterans Day,” he said.
Around the same time, he added, the veteran’s monument, which currently sits in front of the Newton County Courthouse, will be relocated to the new park.
When completed, the park will feature a veteran’s monument, a soldier’s cross and the names of thousands of Newton County residents who served in the military. With ample parking and benches built into the park’s design, Reeves said he hopes it will become a place for residents and visitors to stop and remember the veterans in their community.
To make the park as planned, Reeves said they’ll need about 1,500 bricks already purchased when they break ground. However, he said the brick sales will continue long after the park is complete.
“This is going to be an ongoing thing,” he said. “When we start building, we’ll be putting blank bricks on the ground, so all we have to do is pull up the blank brick and replace it. 15, 20 year from now you can buy a brick.
For more information about the proposed Veterans Memorial Park or to purchase a brick, visit the group’s Facebook page, @ncveteranpark, email ncveteranpark@gmail.com or visit the Newton Chamber of Commerce, Decatur Chamber of Commerce, Union Chamber of Commerce, Newton County Veterans Service Office or ask any American Legion member.
