Purchase a Paver to Honor a Vet
(as published in the Woodbury Bulletin 12/17/08)
Woodbury’s newest attraction honors our Veterans and brings patriotic beauty to the rose gardens adjacent to Woodbury City Hall near the corner of Radio Drive and Valley Creek Road. I attended the 2008 Veterans Day observance at the Woodbury Lions Veterans Memorial and felt pride for our current and past military service members during the ceremony. I watched as a flag for each branch of the military was raised individually and sang our National Anthem accompanied by the Woodbury Brass Band along with a large crowd who had gathered there in spite of the inclement weather. We are fortunate to have such a beautiful place in our city to reflect upon our country, our freedom and the many sacrifices of our service member heroes.
As a new member of the Woodbury Lion’s Club, my wish is for citizens to continue to support this important addition to our city. With the holidays upon us, residents may want to consider purchasing a paver as a gift for a family member or loved one who has served in the military.
The pavers are a beautiful gray granite stone and measure 8 inches wide by 16 inches long; they are available to honor any veteran of military service including personnel presently serving in the military. The purchased pavers are engraved with the name of a veteran and the branch and era they served in and cost $300 a piece, which goes directly to cover the cost of the memorial site. Paver donations are acknowledged with a signed, numbered and laminated Certificate that has a shaded image of the Woodbury Veterans Memorial overprinted with “In Honor Of” or “In Memory Of” the named veteran. A coded key will show the location of your paver(s) within the Memorial Plaza. The Certificate also includes the name or names of the donors.
I purchased a paver last month to honor my father who is a retired member of the air force. He served during the Korean conflict and was a member of the air force reserves for twenty years. I’m proud of his military service and he was very touched to learn that a memorial paver will be installed in his honor at the Memorial Plaza next spring.
To find out more visit woodburylionsvetmem.org, or call Dick Stafford 651-303-4453, Dick Krumm 651-738-0021 or Brett Anderson 651-353-0493. A scale model of the Memorial is located in the lobby of City Hall.
Lisa Weik, Washington County Commissioner, District 5 – Woodbury