Expansion is coming for Emporia’s Tablets of Honor.
Expansion has been the rule for the area of monuments on the north side of the All Veterans Memorial since the first tablets were erected in 2016, and spokesman Frank Lowery made the official expansion announcement on KVOE’s Newsmaker II segment Monday.
The exact placement of the new tablets as well as the sidewalk are to be determined. Lowery says the new available ground could hold a total of 12 additional tablets if another expansion is needed.
The original plan was to erect six tablets containing the names of 80 veterans each. Before the first six tablets were ordered, enough names were submitted to create eight tablets. Now there are 11 tablets at the facility.
Interest has come in from around the world for this project, with 38 states and two foreign countries now represented.
So far, nearly 900 veterans have been recognized at the All Veterans Memorial through the Tablets of Honor. Lowery thanked former city horticulturist Dave McCullough, architect Dave Emig and the late Kerry Wallace for helping to design the tablets, as well as the All Veterans Memorial Committee and the city of Emporia for their work to bring the tablets to Soden’s Grove.
The plan, while in its infancy, addresses both the need for more space and the need to work around the Cottonwood River floodplain nearby.
Each tablet costs around $12,000, so the $125 per veteran only pays a small portion of the costs needed to erect the monuments. Fundraising is underway to cover the difference.
As work continues on the Tablets of Honor, Lowery says other work is coming together elsewhere at the All Veterans Memorial. The helicopter and tank are both at the stage where they need to be repainted. The memorial, which has had additions like a Braille American flag, ship’s anchor from the USS Oliver Hazard Perry, bell from the USS Emporia and a stone sign added over the past 10 years, could possibly add a jet from the Korean War or could expand the Air Force presence as a whole in some other way. Looking back in history, Lowery says it’s not out of the question that the park could add equipment from the Civil War or other earlier conflicts.
For more information, including submission guidelines and donation details, go online to www.allveteransday.org.
