Recognizing our heroes    The Montana Standard, Three Rivers Edition, Tuesday Oct.22, 2002

Veterans Memorial to be built in Dillon

By Perry Backus of The Montana Standard

DILLON--After Ron Lake saw the impressive veterans memorial in Ennis , he knew he wanted his uncle’s name included on that wall of honor.
   “When I told my uncle, Gene Longie, about it, he agreed it was a very nice monument, but wondered why Beaverhead County couldn’t have one of its own,” said Lake.
   An accomplished mason with experience on other local monuments, Lake started looking into the possibility of creating a veteran’s memorial in Dillon.  He talked with the organizers of the Ennis monument and he started asking people around Dillon for advise.
   The response has been tremendous.
   Last weekend, members of the American Legion, Dillon Kiwanis and the White Hat Coalition joined Lake at Dillon’s Kiwanis Park to turn the first bit of earth at what will become the Beaverhead County Veterans Memorial.
   The memorial will be constructed in three phases, with the initial portion completed sometime this spring.  The completed memorial will be 60 feet long and include 1,000 square feet of rock.
   Lake says he plans to use both river and moss rock on the monument. “It will be very unique,” he said.
   The inside of the memorial will be lined with bricks with veteran’s names and the branch of the military they served.  The bricks will cost $100 and be part of the fund-raising effort to help pay for the memorial.
   Stan Smith of the White Hat Coalition said an auction is being planned for Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11 to help kick off the fund-raising effort.
   “We think this is going to go over very well,”Smith said.  “In Ennis veterans from 27 different states have purchased bricks.”
   People interested in sponsoring a veteran can get in touch with Smith or other organizers.   All donations will be tax deductible.
   “We have a complete list of everyone who is now in the military and those who have served earlier, “Smith said.
   The hope is the first phase of the memorial will be completed in time to be dedicated on Memorial Day next spring.  Each Memorial Day thereafter, the new bricks with veteran’s names will be dedicated.
   “Anything that anyone can do to help get this started will be greatly appreciated,” said Harvey Lake, an organizer of the project.  “We can use all the volunteers we can get.”

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