A Veterans Memorial

If there is a group of folks who deserve a memorial, it is the Veterans who have proudly (and bravely) served our country.

Memorial Day weekend of 2009, we erected a beautiful Veterans Memorial in Farmington, AR.  It was here that a small committee of folks belonging to the Farmington Veteran's Council, brought some ideas together to honor past, present and future Veterans of our United States Armed Forces.  When they came to us they had a general idea of the memorial design and looked to our expertise to help make it happen. 

We recommended a Georgia Gray granite for the memorial and further recommended using laser etched black granite tiles for the Great Seal and the seal of each branch of the military.  By laser etching each seal, we were able to obtain a level of detail that is crisp and accurate.  We then inlayed the black tiles into the gray granite.

Now, I will tell you, there is a fine art to inlaying any kind of tiles into granite.  Why?  Because the inlaying needs to be precise and accurate so that there are no holes or gaps between the base stone and the inlayed stone.  Tiny holes, cracks and gaps could potentially set the base stone up for future problems and are certainly something to avoid.  Here at Emerson Monument Co, our craftsmen are second to none and did an absolutely amazing job with this memorial.

"A tribute to all veterans, past, present and future."

Although some of the memorial was donated by local organizations, the group also needed to do some fundraising to make this memorial possible.  They achieved the necessary funds by selling engraved bricks that were inlayed into a concrete block wall.  Engraved bricks are a lot of fun and very popular because it gives each individual his or her own little tribute within the encompassing memorial.

One of the walls hosting engraved bricks.

I truly enjoyed attending the dedication and memorial service hosted when the memorial was erected.  There was a great turn out of Veterans and their families, as well as some members of other interested organizations.  Several Veterans spoke and told heroic stories which deeply touched my life forever; yes, I am grateful to have attended. 

Many of the Veterans who were at the dedication service.