MEMORIAL PROJECT SOLICITS INVOLVEMENT; BROOKSIDE PARK MEMORIAL MAY CONTAIN NAMES

JACKSON -- Donations to the Brookside Park Veterans Memorial continue to come in, but members of the memorial's steering committee said this week more involvement is needed.

The memorial, which would honor living and dead veterans in times of peace and war, would be built in one of Jackson's newest parks along Highway 61 north of the City Park.

"We've received a number of donations from individuals," said committee member and retired art teacher Herb Wickham, who did an artist's conception of the memorial. "But we want to reach out to civic and community clubs and organizations and auxiliaries, especially those involved in veterans' affairs, to seek their support."

Gwen Winningham, a member of the committee, said: "I had one person give $2,000 while another gave $2. We welcome them all."

Winningham said as a final phase of the project the committee plans to place 10 plaques on the walls of a small chapel that would be built at the memorial. Each plaque would commemorate the 10 wars and conflicts the United States has been involved in since the Revolutionary War. On each plaque would be the names of veterans in whose memory a donation is made to the memorial.

"We've had a number of inquiries from individuals wanting to know if they could make a donation to the memorial in memory of a veteran or someone connected with the war effort," Winningham said. "The answer is, yes, when the chapel is built the names of the veterans in whose memory the donation was made will be engraved on the plaques."

The committee said it also welcomes donations of American flags that covered the caskets of veterans. The flags would be mounted on poles and flown along the walkway at the memorial on special days of remembrance.

Bruce Dockins of McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson suggested the flag donations after talking with families of deceased veterans. Dockins said after the funeral the flag is presented to the family or survivors.

"Many families wanted to know if they could do something with the flag besides put it in a drawer or something," said Dockins. "I have agreed to work with the families of deceased veterans and tell them about donating the flag to the memorial so it can be flown with the flags of other deceased veterans on days like Memorial Day or Veterans Day."

Plans call for the memorial to be built in three phases on the first terrace of the 40-acre park. The first phase would include construction of a concrete circular walkway around an American flag pole with two, seven-foot-tall, curved, rectangular, granite stones on each side of the walkway.

On each stone would be engraved the crests of all branches of the armed forces: Army; Navy; Air Force; their reserve and National Guard components; Coast Guard and Merchant Marines.

Later on marble benches and a paved esplanades leading into the memorial would be built. The chapel would be the concluding part of the project. The memorial is planned so that it would appear to be complete at the completion of each phase of construction.

The memorial would be constructed entirely from cash and in-kind donations.

So far about $2,000 has been raised. The project is designed so work can begin with a minimum amount of money and continue as donations come in. Winningham estimated the total cost of the memorial at $30,000.

For more information about making a cash or in-kind donation, or a donation in memory of a deceased veteran, contact Wickham at 243-5417 or 243-2961, or Dockins at 243-2424.

Donations may be mailed to the Jackson Veterans Memorial Steering Fund, in care of the Jackson Park Foundation, 225 S. High, Jackson, Mo. 63755.