Additions to Silverhill Veterans War Memorial to be dedicated on Jan. 11

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SILVERHILL, Alabama — Three new additions to the Silverhill Veterans War Memorial are now in place.

Three 4-foot by 8-foot stones with the names of more than 600 veterans from Silverhill and the surrounding areas were put in place on Wednesday by Stan Vinson of Mack Funeral Home Monuments in Robertsdale and James McKinley of Parkway Enterprises of Perdido. Prep work for the site was done by employees of the Town of Silverhill.

The stones were placed surrounding the memorial, which was dedicated in March of 2017, located in Paul Anderson Park, across from Town Hall at the corner of Alabama 104 and County Road 55 in Silverhill.

The memorial includes the first name, last name and middle initials of veterans from Silverhill and the surrounding areas, along with branch of service, said Frankie Kucera with the Silverhill Veterans Memorial Organization. Those killed in action are designated by a star next to their name, and designations have also be added for those Missing In Action (MIA) and Prisoner of War (POW), along with Purple Heart designations.

While each stone can hold about 250 names, the final stone is not full and any future names will be added to additional stones, Kucera said.

“We already have several names to be added,” Kucera said, “but it’s just more cost-effective to place an additional stone rather than add names to the existing stone.”

The annual Silverhill Memorial Day Weekend Car Show, held each year on the Saturday before Memorial Day, is an event to raise funds for the memorial, and proceeds from that event, which drew more than 140 cars, and a quilt raffle which raised an additional $2,000, put the Silverhill Veterans Memorial Organization, a non-profit company, over its goal of raising $30,000 to add to the memorial, Kucera said.

For several years, the Gear Jammers Car Club, of which Kucera is a founding member and past president, has been hosting its annual Silverhill Car Show on Memorial Day weekend.

Started as a fundraiser for the Oscar Johnson Memorial Library in Silverhill, fundraising focus of the event shifted in 2011 after a tornado caused extensive damage to the town’s Little Bohemian Hall. The event has also served as a fundraiser for Catholic Social Services, Project C.A.R.E. Food Pantry and Silverhill Boy Scout Troop 42.

After work on the Little Hall was completed in December of 2014 with dedication ceremonies held in January of 2015, focus of the car show shifted to raising funds for the war memorial.

The towering structure made of polished black granite with etched artwork on both sides was designed by Paul Morris of PM Printing in Summerdale, along with metal “stationary flags” depicting all branches of the military.

The flagpoles were donated by Woodman Life Insurance Co. The concrete work was donated by a veteran, Chris Traughber and the landscaping and finishing work was done by town employees, acting Superintendent of Utilities Scottie Smith, Tommy Moss, Jamie Morton and Justin Matthews.

“We want to keep going,” Kucera said. “We want to keep adding names and adding to the memorial. We want to honor as many people from this town and the surrounding area as we can.”

Kucera said a dedication for the additions will be done some time after the first of the year.

The organization plans to continue to raise funds for future expansion of the project.

If you would like to donate to the project you can mail your contribution to the Silverhill Veterans Memorial Organization Inc., P.O. Box 94, Silverhill, AL 36576. You can also donate through the group’s Go Fund Me account online and through the Silverhill Veterans Memorial Organization page on Facebook.