MEMORIAL UPDATE
Officials gathering more names and donations for dedication ceremony
WEST ROCKHILL >> The deadline for putting in new names to update the West Rockhill Township Veteran’s Memorial is Friday, Sept. 13.
That’s to make sure there’s enough time to get the engraving of the additional names completed for a planned dedication of the new names sometime around Veterans Day, said Maggie Oliver, a member of the West Rockhill Township Park & Recreation Committee.
This will be the first group of additional names since the memorial was created and dedicated in 2005, said Fred Diseroad, who was West Rockhill Township Board of Supervisors chairman in 2005 and, with Charlie Guenst and Allyn Grubb, who were Park and Recreation Committee members, formed the committee that created the memorial.
About 50 new names have been found for the memorial, which initially had about 350, Diseroad said.
“Plaque name engravings are an excellent way to honor loved ones who have served our country. It is a way for future generations and all visitors to stay connected to that special veteran in your life and create a lasting tribute for years to come right in James Me
morial Park,” information in the township’s newsletter this spring said. James Memorial Park is on Ridge Road across the street from the township building.
The veterans included on the memorial are all current or past residents of West Rockhill, Oliver said.
Information on the plaque includes the veteran’s name, branch of service, rank and when they served, Grubb said.
There is no cost to have a name put on the memorial.
Submission forms are available at the township building or online. Completed forms may be mailed to West Rockhill Township, 1028 Ridge Road, Sellersville PA 18960.
As with the original memorial, donations are being sought to pay for the costs of adding names, Diseroad said. Twenty-two thousand dollars was raised for the original memorial, along with volunteer labor contributions, he said. The cost of adding the new names isn’t set yet, but it’s estimated that about $2,000 will have to be raised, he said.
Donations may be sent to the township with the notation
that the money is for the veteran’s memorial, Oliver said.
Guenst initially raised the idea of having a veteran’s memorial in the early 2000s and was appointed by Richard “Doc” Derstine, who was then chairman of the board of supervisors, to be a one man committee working on the project, Diseroad said. Guenst subsequently recruited Grubb, he said.
“Charlie and Allyn began knocking on doors to get veterans names and spent their weekend with tin cups at the corner of Ridge Road and Lawn Avenue in order to raise money for the memorial,” written memorial
information supplied by Diseroad said.
Guenst has again been knocking on doors trying to find additional names of veterans this time around, Diseroad said.
Boulders for the memorial came from Guenst’s property.
“We tried to make the memorial represent West Rockhill, and what represents West Rockhill more than the rocks and nature?” Diseroad said at the 2005 dedication.
Diseroad’s architectural firm, DWKCB Architects, did design work for the memorial. The firm is now KCBA Architects in Hatfield.
Guenst, Grubb and Diseroad are all veterans whose names are on the monument.
Oliver said the goal is to get the names of as many veterans not yet listed as possible.
“It’s very costly to run a partial plaque,” she said.
Any names added would be done in a larger group, rather than a few names at a time, she said.
“It would be several years down the road before we tried this again, I think,” she said.
Engraved bricks in the walkway, however, are each done individually, and can be purchased and added at
any time, she said.
The bricks are available in two sizes — 4x8 inches, which can have three lines of text with up to 13 characters per line, or 12x12 inches, which can have six lines of text with up to 18 characters per line — according to information in the township’s spring newsletter.
The cost for the bricks is $75 for the smaller ones and $125 for the larger ones.