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Liberty Grove Plans Armed Forces Honor Circle

Liberty Grove residents Bob and Faith Murray have wondered for some time why a community with such a gung-ho name has no memorial or monument to people who have served this country in the armed forces.

“So we checked around,” Bob said.

The Murrays are members of the Liberty Grove Historical Society, Faith serving as secretary of the organization. Thanks to a wise partnership, the society is located at the entrance to the Door County Land Trust’s Grand View Scenic Overlook and Park.

“It would be an ideal place to situate an honor circle such as the one we are proposing,” Bob said. “We felt the residents of Liberty Grove, both seasonal and year-round, would be interested in honoring their relatives and friends with a brick or a paver, as well as people in the community that just want to support that goal.”

The society agreed. At the recent Liberty Grove Historical Society membership dinner meeting, Society President Stefanie Burke announced plans for an “Armed Forces Honor Circle” – a pentagonal “circle” of pavers engraved with names of military service men and women, past and present, who have been residents or related to residents of Liberty Grove.

Native stone benches and five pedestals, crowned with medallions for each service branch, will be installed on the periphery of the circle.

There will also be a “Donors’ Heritage Walkway,” enabling those who wish to support the project and the mission of the Liberty Grove Historical Society to purchase bricks inscribed with their names, family names or business names.

Then Faith speaks up. “I’m the veteran,” she said. “I was a Navy nurse during Vietnam, so this is a near and dear project to my heart. I really believe this needs to happen in Liberty Grove.”

She said 33 bricks have already been sold. “We’re hoping to support the installation through the initial sale of bricks,” she said. “Hopefully that will happen when the ground thaws in the spring.”

Dedication of the Honor Circle has been set for July 4, 2016, at the base of the Bruce Hanson Memorial flagpole on LGHS grounds atop the Grand View Grade off Hwy. 42 in Ellison Bay, coinciding with the sesquicentennial of Liberty Grove.

“Approximately 350 veterans are buried in Liberty Grove town cemeteries,” Faith said. “We’ll continue fundraisers until we get bricks for all those veterans.”

She credits American Legion Post 527 and VFW Post 8337 for generous donations toward the project.

“We want to encourage other groups to contribute,” she said. “This is an important cause. We need to honor the veterans. Anything we can do the better.”

Those interested in purchasing pavers fully engraved and installed at $125 per 4” x 8” paver and $250 per 8” x 8” paver, may contact Faith Murray at 920.421.1754.

 

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