Veterans Memorial to Get Financial Boost from Gala, Park Slated For 2025 Dedication

NEWBERRY ‒ Newberry City Commissioner Mark Clark and former City Commissioner and State Representative Debbie Boyd joined an ad hoc committee formed in February to work on Newberry Veterans Memorial. The project is designed to honor all veterans and Boyd characterized the group as “very passionate about the project.”

Local artist Paula Willis worked with the committee to formulate a conceptual design and the committee considered five locations for the Veterans Park. A presentation was made to the City Commission on March 27 by Boyd with full committee attendance. Boyd’s research was turned over to Newberry City staff, and design planning and engineering began.

Boyd recommended a location at the southwest corner of Lois Forte Park. “We found this to be the best location because the City has plans to reconstruct Northwest 260^th Street, sewer, water and restrooms are already available and the location is accessible,” said Boyd. “In addition, that location will be highly visible from the west-bound pairs when State Road 26 is reconstructed. There is also plenty of parking and room for veteran-related events at that park.”

The committee turned their attention to fundraising with a goal to raise $100,000 - $150,000 for the project. “The City of Newberry is a very committed major partner and has approved $350,000 of Wild Spaces Public Places funding towards it,” said Boyd. “Because of additional funding opportunities available over the next year, it was recently decided to give the project another year and now plan to dedicate Veterans Park on Veterans Day 2025.”

The Denim & Diamonds Gala is the committee’s first fundraising event and is scheduled to take place on Friday, Nov. 17, from 6 – 10:30 p.m. It is being held to honor veterans and to benefit the Veterans Park project.

The Gala will take place at Clark Plantation with the venue and resources donated by Libby and George Bridges. Celebrations Catering will be catering the event and WCJB Anchor David Snyder will be master of ceremonies. Purple Star recipient Joel Rousseau will be the guest speaker and Josh Taylor will be the disc jockey for the event. “We have a great line-up of participants to make the Gala a fun evening of dinner and dancing,” said Boyd.

This is a reserved ticket event with capacity set at 200 seats, and online ticket sales have been suspended because sales are at capacity. Anyone interested can request “will call” for tickets that may become available.

Boyd said the committee has received $51,300 in sponsorships for the Gala and memorial with additional donations promised from some of the sponsors after the first of the year.

Revenues and expenditures are handled through the City of Newberry. The Gala does not yet have a bar sponsor and the City has a policy that it will not spend taxpayers’ dollars on alcohol. The Commission voted to allow the purchase of alcohol directly by the committee with funds donated to the event.

Another fundraising opportunity

The Veterans Memorial Committee has a Memorial Brick Campaign to create another community investment opportunity to help raise funds for the Newberry Veterans Memorial. Engraved Memorial Bricks are available for purchase now, will be available for purchase at the Gala and will continue to be available through construction of Veterans Park. Each brick will be incorporated into the Veterans Park as a lasting legacy to honor veterans and commemorate their service. The committee hopes to sell as many bricks as possible prior to construction so that each brick can be incorporated into the final memorial.

More information can be found on the Veterans Memorial Bricks at NewberryVeteransMemorial.com/The-NVM-Project/MemorialBricks or by contacting Debbie Boyd at 352-339-6626 or Mark Clark at 352-317-3482.

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