HUNTLEY – Twenty-four members of Dawn Ellison’s family have served in military service, most of them in time of war.
They started in the Civil War and carried the tradition through the Gulf War in the 1990s. Every one of them came back. They left such a great legacy of service that Ellison and a group of friends decided to play a major role in recognizing them, and so many others like them, including those who did not came back.
This artist rendition shows how the memorial will display the flags of each branch of the American military. (Image provided)
This coming spring, the Huntley Area Veterans Foundation, of which Ellison is president, will break ground for a Huntley Veterans Memorial on the town square. The organization plans to dedicate it to all veterans who have served in peacetime and conflicts sometime this summer. Dawn joined with three fellow Foundation officers: Vice President Leigh Ann Porsch, Secretary Lonni Oldham, and Treasurer Penny Warner to form the Foundation in the spring of 2014. In less than 18 months, the organization has raised about $100,000, to fund most of the cost for the memorial.
“We have been fortunate to have the land donated to us by the village, and we have received support from many organizations and businesses,” Ellison said. “We came into this with high hopes but a lot of trepidation, and it is exciting to see it reach success in so short a period of time.”
A major donation came just last week, when the village allocated $45,000 to the project, as part of its $23 million streetscape and downtown square improvement project. This donation puts the foundation over the top toward its fund-raising goal of $125,000. Other major donors so far include the American Legion and Legion Auxiliary for their joint contribution of $10,000, the Huntley Senior Citizens Club for $2,500, Mrs. Burkhalter’s Marlowe Middle School students who collected $750 and presented a “With Liberty and Justice for All” show honoring area veterans last fall. There also have been family sponsorships from the Ruth, Schroeder, and Porsch families, and corporate donations from Landmark Construction, Pet Vet Animal Clinic, First National Bank of Huntley, Rotary International, Rookies, the Huntley Council of Knights of Columbus, and the Sons of the American Legion.
“The memorial is our first order of business, and we are working on other ideas and projects for the future,” Ellison continued. “Later, the foundation also will provide educational, medical, and housing support for veterans.”
The Sun Day met last week with Ellison and Lonni Oldham in the 110-year-old brick home on Main Street where Dawn has lived for nearly 20 years.
“I am living the American dream here in Huntley, where I was born,” she said. “I owe so much to so many of my family members, and I am so excited to have the opportunity to say thank you to my family and to all those who have served,” she said.
“We have worked with the Farmer’s Market in town the last 18 months, we have held what we call Parties for Patriots, and we have sold bricks and flags for the memorial monument, along with T-shirts,” said Oldham, a long-time friend of Dawn’s. “We have engaged the services of a granite builder from Ohio and we are ready to go with the construction as soon as spring comes.”
The memorial monument will be a black, eight foot high, 22-foot long structure at the southeast corner of the town square, directly across Main Street from Strode’s Furniture store. The monument will honor the six branches of the military including the National Guard, the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. Each branch’s flag will be placed on the top of their respective sections of the structure.
“We added the National Guard to this project when we found out that the National Guard, known as the militia, was the first military organization to be formed in America,” Ellison said.
The foundation already has received sponsorships of two benches that will flank the monument that will honor POWs and Purple Heart recipients.
“This memorial will be in Huntley, but it is intended to recognize and honor veterans from anywhere,” Dawn said. The Foundation is selling standard size 4”x8” ground bricks for $100, 8”x8” bricks for $500, custom logo engraved 13”x 12” bricks for $1,000, and $3,000 for flags and bricks together.
“The bricks can be engraved with up to three lines of text chosen by the contributors,” Dawn said.
The group also is creating a QR code program on its website, which will create permanent records of veterans’ service. The group’s brochure, and ultimately the monument, will contain these words: “To all veterans who have served during peacetime and conflicts in the armed forces of the United States. To the mothers, fathers, and families whose sons and daughters have made the supreme sacrifice. To those veterans who still suffer the wounds and ravages of war, and to those missing and not yet home. In order that we may continue to live in freedom in the greatest nation on earth, the United States of America, we the people of Huntley gratefully dedicate this monument.”
“May their sacrifices never be forgotten.”
