Benbow Memorial Ribbon Cutting

Jack Abel, 1953, Buckeye Highway Patrol, *suicide spinner knob...choice*

Roy Rogers was softly playing in air conditioned home of Verylene Meck, Mrs. Mayor of Buckeye.  After she showed off a keep sake from her hope chest, we got down to business.  I had stopped by to pick up this original black and white photo of this cop that was haunting me since I first saw him about a year ago.  Verlyne and I worked on the Buckeye Cook Book cover last summer.  Verlyne has published Then & Now Buckeye and Images of America Buckeye.  I am truly a lucky person to be able to scan some of these originals that she so kindly lets me take and return.  She even sends me home with a loaf of homemade bread. 

This was the ribbon cutting ceremony on May 19th last month.  I cut up some fruit, brought thousands of donuts and represented the Mainstreet Coalition.  It was interacting with the community of Buckeye, creating a design ... Oh really NOW! I have already posted about this on the Benbow Veterans Memorial Dedication.  Try to keep up.

This is the Ribbon Cutting Post because the project is substantially complete.  We are still designing the back side of the black granite wall.  That is where Jack Abel can be seen.  Well, I hope Charlene Powers will consider it.  

Buckeye Honor Roll, Billy F. Meck is in the upper left corner

Charlene Powers, another member of Mainstreet gave me the Honor Roll to copy and scan for image ideas for the plaque.  I feel like I did a great deed when I scanned all the pages of these men and woman of Buckeye who served our country.  The more I learn about this Town Buckeye, the more I am dedicated to it's evolution and expansion.  She did say she would kill me if I lost the Honor Roll binder.

The names inscribed on the black granite wall are all the names in the Honor Roll binder.  As I scanned the night away in my laundery room, I had such an appreciation of being a helping hand in making this Benbow Veterans Memorial a reality. *so what is wrong with a scanner there?*  You know even Mrs. Benbow showed up at the Ribbon Cutting, looking cute as a bug in her red cowboy boots.

\

Jeffrey and I designed this for Mainstreet.  This image will be etched in bronze on a 24"x24" plaque to go on the wall.  

Helen and Bruce Heiden dear family friends of PVT Allen Makin

Allen Makin, born in Buckeye in 1946 and died in Vietnam in 1967, he is just one of the names etched into the new monument.  The Makins are sitting on their bench that they bought for the Memorial.  While I was inhaling my 5th donut that morning, I heard lots of stories like how scary it was to be in the line of fire.  This elderly fellow got a tear in his eye as he was telling me his story.