Herk and Christine:
There was a debt owed and no one knew what to do about it. The good folks in Marshall County raised as much as they could to pay for the Gold Star Family Memorial Monument that rests just outside the Marshall Courthouse in Moundsville. The monuments cost as much as $65,000 and honor the families who have lost loved ones in military combat, but they were short thousands of dollars in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic.
The counties within the Upper Ohio Valley have lost thousands of lives through the years, most recently during the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq … and that includes, of course, Marshall County. The states of West Virginia and Ohio have honored those lost lives by naming bridges and stretches of roadways after them, but Medal of Honor winner Woody Williams organized the Gold Star Memorial effort and now there are 76 of the monuments with another 74 on the way.
So, when the Marshall County committee met in an attempt to figure a solution, one member had an idea. That’s when two local residents answered their cell phones.
The first call was to you, Herk. Then you called Christine. Suddenly there was a new golf scramble which, in fact, tees off today at Noon on Oglebay’s Crispin course. Both of you collected many sponsors for the event, and you’ve arranged for Miklas Meat Market to provide boxed lunches and a dinner from Undo’s at the Benwood Shelter once the golfing is complete.
The best part, though, is that the two arranged to have Marshall County’s Gold Star Families Memorial Monument paid in full before the first golfer tees off this afternoon, and that represents an incredible service to the people of Marshall County who will forever mourn the loss of their loved ones.
Outsiders can say what they wish about the residents of this Rust Belt community, but it is people like you two that represent today’s example of good people helping good people here in the Upper Ohio Valley.
Thank you for that, and may God bless you both.
Sincerely,
A Grateful Community
