This Memorial Day six new monuments honoring the war dead from six of America’s wars that were not previously represented at the Lycoming County Veterans Memorial Park will be dedicated at 11 a.m., Saturday, May 25, but there is a lot more work going on as well.

Monuments representing the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the Mexican-American War, the Indian Wars, the War of 1812 and the Revolutionary War will be taking their honored places at the park located at the western end of West Fourth Street, at Wahoo Drive.

One of the ways to help pay for these monuments as well as some of the costs of keeping the Lycoming County Veterans Memorial Park adequately maintained is through the sale of personalized bricks, that will honor a particular veteran, permanently placed within the renovated walkways of the Veterans Memorial Park.

The bricks come in two sizes: 4 inches by 8 inches, gray brick with up to three lines of text, with a maximum of 15 characters per line, including, letters, numbers, and symbols. The cost of this type of brick is $50.

The second type is 12 inches by 12 inches, gray brick, up to six lines of text with a maximum of 15 characters per line, including letters, numbers, and symbols. The cost of this $200.
Those bricks will be laid right in front of the monument, making it easy to find for veterans and loved ones coming to visit.

Order forms for these bricks are available at the Streets and Parks Department, 1550 West Third Street, Williamsport City Hall or at the mailbox at the Lycoming County Veterans Memorial Park itself or through the park’s Facebook page.

John Markley served in the Army during Operation Desert Storm and is now the secretary for the park commission. He also serves as the project manager for this project.

“Between the new monuments and the placement of the bricks and some landscaping sprucing up, this is probably the most ambitious project ever done at the Lycoming County Veterans Memorial Park,” Markley said. “We have gotten some fantastic support from various businesses and groups in the community.”

He said that students from the Pennsylvania College of Technology have provided labor on the project since last summer.

Jersey Shore Block Company has provided blocks; Wild Rose provided concrete, Hanson Aggregates, 25 ton of stone, R.D. Slingerland, landscaping equipment, Watsontown Brick, all bricks, including the red pavers, and Bart’s Pizza donated pizza, soda and chips to feed the volunteers working on the project.

John Grado, the retired director of economic development and earlier, the director of streets and parks for the City of Williamsport, was helping with some of the work at the park.

“I like helping out on this project,” Grado said. “It is important that we do things to help recognize and show appreciation to our veterans and all that they have done for us. This is a great project.”

Howard Wilt is a Marine veteran of the Korean War and serves as chairman of the commission that oversees the Veterans Memorial Park, and he expressed his pleasure as to how the project has gone.

“It is wonderful what they have done up there,” Wilt said, “It is really beautiful, and it is something that we will be able to have a lot of pride in long into the future and is a great way to honor our veterans.”

In addition to the dedication, Saturday’s events will also include the Lycoming County Veterans Council’s annual Memorial Day Observance. The event is free and open to the public. Tents and seating will be provided. The event will be held rain or shine. The keynote speaker will be Lieutenant General Earl. B. Hailston, United States Marine Corps, Retired. General Hailston served in the Marine Corps for over 35 years after enlisting in 1967 as a rifleman. During his service he was awarded two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with Combat ‘V’, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with Gold Star, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon.