The city of Arnold will hold a dedication ceremony on Friday for the Veterans Memorial at the Arnold Recreation Center.
The memorial was built in November 2023 near the gazebo outside the rec center, 1695 Missouri State Road.
“It is the culmination of something that has been dreamt about by not only us on the commission but the City Council and mayor,” said Patti Seifert, Arnold Veterans Commission member. “It is incredible to see it come alive like this.”
At the groundbreaking, which will begin at 11 a.m., a bagpipe player will perform before and during the ceremony. Also, members of the St. Louis Special Needs Color Guard will bring a U.S. flag from the rec center to the memorial, and members of the Arnold VFW Post 2593 will raise the flag, Seifert said.
A Fox High School choir member is expected to sing the national anthem, and a benediction prayer will be said, Seifert added.
Charlene Herrin, a retired Army major and member of the Veterans Commission, will deliver a welcome speech, and commission president Larry Boyce, who served two years in the Army after being drafted in 1967 during the Vietnam War, and Mayor Ron Counts are scheduled to speak during the ceremony.
Andrew Huber of the St. Louis Special Needs Color Guard will make a presentation, and VFW members will hold a wreath laying ceremony.
Seifert said the ceremony will conclude with “taps” and “Amazing Grace” being played on the bagpipes.
Free refreshments will be served in the rec center.
“We are so pleased it finally came to fruition,” said Lloyd Seifert, Patti’s husband and a member of the Veterans Commission. “We have been working on it for quite a number of years.”
The memorial features a large star made out of paving bricks in the center of a circle with one of the star points made of colored bricks that give the appearance of a waving American flag. The memorial includes five benches around the circle with the insignia of each military branch on the benches.
The memorial was designed by Kennady Crutchley, the daughter of Arnold Parks and Recreation Director Dave Crutchley.
“It turned out exactly how it was drawn,” Patti Seifert said. “It was a dream, and Kennady Crutchley took that dream and made it come to life. The guys who worked on it made it look exactly like what Kennady drew.”
City officials said the memorial cost about $40,000 to construct. The Veterans Commission held various fundraising events to help cover the construction cost.
Dave Crutchley said the commission collected about $26,000 in donations.