Come Friday, Whiteoak Township will no longer be the only township in the Bright Local School District without a veterans monument.

At 9 a.m. Friday, a Whiteoak Township Veteran’s Monument Dedication Ceremony will be held at Whiteoak High School. Veterans are invited to attend the ceremony, which will be followed by the regular Veterans Day Assembly. All veterans that attend will be recognized, and they are also invited to a breakfast at the school that begins at 8 a.m. the same day.

The monument, said Chuck Emery, commander of Mowrystown American Legion Roy W. Wilson Post 694, “Will be for all veterans, past, present and future service people, and it will be specifically for Whiteoak Township.”

About two years ago, Emery said, a Korean War veteran mentioned that a memorial at the old Sugartree Ridge school site in Concord Township should be moved to the current Bright Elementary School site. Emery said the American Legion members contacted the township trustees and school board, and about 16 months later the memorial was moved.

Emery said there is also a veterans memorial in front of the old school in Belfast in Jackson Township.

So, earlier this year Emery approached the Bright Local Board of Education and received its unanimous approval to have a monument placed at the high school.

The cost of the monument was originally estimated to be around $4,000, and Emery said 37 donors combined to raise about $500 more than was actually needed.

Emery previously told The Times-Gazette that the monument will have no advertising on it, donors will be acknowledged unless they asked to remain anonymous, and no donation amounts will be published.

“It would give us a monument in each township in the school district,” Emery previously said. “A lot of members of the post are Whiteoak High School graduates and a lot of them still live in the school district. We’re all veterans and we realize it’s a need and we want all veterans to be recognized – not just war veterans – but all veterans, and it will be specific to Whiteoak Township.”

The design and size of the memorial have not been revealed, but they will be Friday, and the public is invited to take part in the dedication.

Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522 or [email protected].