Thursday morning, Lyon County Commissioners continued to demonstrate their support for a very special project coming to the community later this month.
As part of their agenda, commissioners considered and approved signing a proclamation recognizing the upcoming arrival of the Wall That Heals to the local community. Organizers of the wall’s appearance in Emporia joined KVOE’s Morning Show Thursday prior to the commission’s meeting to update the project and express their gratitude to all those who have lent their support in recent months.
Organizer Ed Rathke says Thursday’s proclamation was just the latest action from local elected leaders that he believes “opened the door” to entice others to get involved.
According to organizer Richelle Birk, the support for the wall has gone across county lines in the local area noting there has been a high level of support shown by leadership in Coffey County, which the wall will pass through as it makes its way into Emporia later this month.
Speaking of the wall’s arrival, organizer Clay Childs has mentioned on many occasions that they are planning a large procession into the Emporia city limits to welcome the wall to the community. As of Thursday’s update, that procession is looking to be a mile long at least.
When it comes to planning the procession, Childs says mapping out the route was the biggest challenge, but once again, local leaders, specifically local law enforcement, stepped up to lend assistance.
Emporia is one of more than 30 communities that will be hosting the wall this year, according to Vietnam War Memorial Fund Director of Outreach Tim Tetz. Tetz says they had over 100 applications from communities looking to host the wall this year and Emporia stood out for many reasons, namely the amount of buy-in and desire from organizers and the community.
The Wall That Heals is a nearly 400-foot-long replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, as well as a mobile education center. It is engraved with the names of the better than 58,000 men and women who died in the Vietnam War. The memorial will be open to the public and free to attend.
The Emporia City Commission is planning to consider a similar proclamation at its regular action meeting this coming Wednesday.
In other business Thursday, county commissioners also received the latest quarterly update from CareArc administrators. The Lyon County Commission will next convene Thursday at 9 am inside the Lyon County Courthouse Commission Chambers.
