LYNNWOOD — Veterans Park is filling up with memorial bricks.
It’s good timing, too. Just ahead of a big Memorial Day celebration, the city’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1040 has installed 34 new engraved bricks.
There are now 610 lining walkways through the park.
Each brick has the name of a local veteran who has served in the armed services.
“(This) is to honor the veterans,” said Martin Spani, the post’s commander. “It’s our way of giving back to the community and to the veterans.”
The VFW Post sells the bricks for $25, and Spani installs them himself. After engraving and installation, the post loses money on each brick.
Raising money isn’t the goal, Spani said.
Among the newest bricks is one honoring Sgt. Stanley Illsley, a deceased Army soldier who served in World War II. Illsley was serving in the Pacific during Pearl Harbor, and was in Germany when Allied troops liberated the Dachau concentration camp.
His son Doug, and his grandson Andrew Blair, purchased Illsley’s brick and attended a dedication ceremony on April 26.
In a few short years, the VFW Post has transformed the former Civic Center Park. After the park’s name change in 2001, it has become a celebration of military service.
There are five new flagpoles, and memorial trees planted in memory of Korean War vets as well as President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a former five-star Army general.
“It has become a real draw,” said George Janecke, the post’s chaplain. The program’s not over, either.
“We still have a lot of room to put bricks,” he said.
Chris Fyall: 425-339-3447, cfyall@heraldnet.com.
Buy a brick
Each brick costs $25. Applications are available at the Lynnwood Library at 19200 44th Ave. W.; City Hall at 19100 44th Ave. W.; or Fire Station 15 at 18800 44th Ave. W. For more information, call Tina Roberts-Martinez at 425-697-4102.
Memorial Day
Celebrate Memorial Day with bagpipes, rifle salutes and more at 11 a.m., May 30 at Lynnwood’s Veteran Park, 44th Avenue W. and 194th Street SW.
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