Veteran’s Day is coming up November 11, so now is the time to order a brick to go into the Santa Rosa County Veteran’s Memorial Plaza according to General Manager of the plaza, Ralph Nesenson. “I need input by October 15,” he said, in order to have the bricks cut and set in the walkway by Veterans Day.
There are a few ways to order. Those interested can order online at www.srcvmf.org and click on “Buy a Brick” under the plaza link. Two lines of 18 characters are available on a brick at the plaza including letters, numbers, or spaces. While there are no official rules for what to include on a brick, Nesenson said they should have the veteran’s full name, the rank upon leaving the military, and branch and years of service. Nesenson said it was also more important to include combat time or period over total service time. Finally, he suggested adding if the veteran is retired.
According to Nesenson, “There are 27,000 veterans in Santa Rosa County. There are bricks in there for maybe 1,500. With all the veterans there is no reason not to have all the bricks filled.” Two years after the beginning the program, Nesenson said, the plaza should have been filled. If every brick at the plaza were engraved, Nesenson said the river walk from the south gazebo to the bridge would be filled. Nesenson said he would work through the night of November 10 to have the bricks in place by the next day if necessary, unless he had an unusually large number of orders.
On the holiday, Nesenson said the Veterans Day Parade would be finishing at the plaza with the ceremony at 11 a.m. The parade starts, he said, at 9:30 a.m. at Milton High School, travels down Stewart Street to Berryhill Street to Willing Street.
After the ceremony, Santa Rosa County’s 4-H club will hold its annual cookout at the plaza. Prudence Caskey, SRC 4-H agent said the club’s motto for Veterans Day is “Serving those who too have served us.” Caskey said the will serve veterans and their family. Wal-Mart will provide the chips, meat, buns, and cupcakes/cookies, while the Wal-Mart employees help. Buffalo Rock will donate drinks, she said, and Santa Rosa Medical Center will donate perishables and condiments.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Veterans Memorial Plaza has room for more bricks