Rededication of Stone monument planned

Thursday, August 14, 2003

Franklin Norman, Sam Foursha and Kathi Wysong sat down with the Vernon County Commissioners to work out details for the rededication of the William Joel Stone monument. Plans call for the rededication to take place the morning of Oct. 11, 2003, on the 68th anniversary of the original ceremony. Wysong said the group hoped to parallel the original ceremony as much as possible with invitations to Governor Bob Holden and Senator Kit Bond. Descendants of Stone have been contacted and some will be bringing memorabilia of Stone to the ceremony. The Nevada ROTC Flying Tigers will be on hand to provide an honor guard. Foursha said he planned a reception at his house, originally constructed by Stone, during the day of the ceremony. "We're still trying to figure out what we will be able to do. It depends on who we have available from out of town. The original dedication was huge and we'd like to do something comparable," said Foursha. Norman said that he wished more could have been done to restore the monument. "Originally the state said the gold leaf wouldn't be done but after much pleading it was. Landscaping around the monument won't be done by the state but perhaps enough local money can be raised to get it all done. Jack Edmiston is donating two mature flowering dogwoods for the landscaping and we appreciate that." The group will meet again in the next week to discuss further plans for the rededication ceremony.

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