Scottdale residents rally around veterans memorial
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
A stone tablet in the Scottdale veterans plaza lists Scottdale veterans who served their country.
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
The Scottdale veterans monument sits off Pittsburgh Street with flags for each branch of the military.
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
Flags for each branch of the military and for POW MIA soldiers are reflected in one of the benches in the Scottdale veterans plaza off Pittsburgh Street.
When residents Larry Keslar and Denny Klepsky broached the idea of building a new veteran’s memorial, Scottdale Mayor Chuck King paid for an attorney himself to look into building a new monument.
King found, however, that there were potentially costly legal issues if the memorial was undertaken as a private project.
“We found out that if the project was a borough project, there would be so many less hoops to jump through, so we approached council and asked if a veterans’ memorial committee could be formed,” Councilman Don Stansak said.
Over the past year, the memorial was built in stages along the former Tottie Kiefer Walkway between Standard Bank and Scottdale Bank & Trust. It honors all veterans, living and deceased. Another memorial at the corner of Broadway and Pittsburgh streets honors those killed in World War I and II.
“My brother-in-law (Keslar) and I just talked about it and really felt that something needed to be done,” Klepsky said. “We didn’t know what this was going to look like when we started out, but we knew something had to be done.”
The group planned fundraisers for the project and started the design work of what they wanted the memorial and the area around it to look like.
“We had fundraising booths set up at a car show here in the borough and we held a spaghetti dinner where we raffled off 100 baskets that people, groups or businesses donated to us,” Stansak said.
The group raised a little over $75,000, which helped to make the idea a reality.
The cost of one memorial stone is $26,000.
“Every penny we get goes back into the project,” Stansak said. “We have granite benches that people purchased in memory or in honor of someone, we have a memorial flag pole that is black as well as our other flagpoles that have been donated, and right now we have one stone in place that is filled with names of veterans from any branch of the service from anywhere.
“They don’t have to be from Scottdale to be on this memorial,” he said.
Councilman Jack Davis said he is in awe at how the community has rallied around the project.
“It wasn’t just the amount of money that came in but the people who helped do the hard work with digging the holes for the flag poles and for the cement and the footers,” he said. “So many different people have been part of making this a reality.”
“This is just the first phase, but I can’t believe all that has been accomplished in a little less than a year from the time the idea came about,” Davis said.
The second phase will include a wrought iron gate along the Pittsburgh Street side, as well as a soldier’s cross.
Stansak said they are just under 90 names away from being able to erect a second stone filled with names of veterans.
“The cutoff to accept names for the next stone is Jan. 2,” said Davis.
The cost to add a name to the stone memorial is $120 if it’s done before the stone is placed, or $170 if it’s done after the stone is placed.
Anyone wishing to add a name can pick up an application at Scottdale Bank & Trust, Scottdale Library and the Scottdale Borough Building.
Those wanting to make a donation can send a check to the borough building at 10 Mt. Pleasant Road, Scottdale, 15683, with the word “veterans” in the memo part of the check.