IVINS — Fundraising efforts continue for a Veterans Memorial in Ivins. A Veterans Day charity golf tournament added an additional $3,000 to the grassroots effort to create a monument to honor those from Ivins who have served in the armed forces.
The Nov. 11 tournament at Sunbrook Golf Course in St. George had 40 players as well as teams representing Lin’s Market and InsideOut Hyperbarics and Wellness.
Ivins resident Steve Corry, who has been organizing the effort to create the memorial with fellow resident Laela Gaylord, said there was one moment in particular at the tournament that affirmed why the effort is being made.
“One Vietnam veteran expressed reflections at the tournament that the memorial is one of the first opportunities to talk about their service and perhaps offering some healing moments,” Corry said. “In organizing the golf tournament, we have found that natural conversations have been offered by so many who want to tell a veteran’s story from their own family and how talking about these stories is a healing and almost a restorative element in their life.”
Gaylord said they have received some support from the city of Ivins including the donation of land at the Ivins City Cemetary. But organizers are now hoping for some additional financial support.
To that end, Ivins City Council member Dennis Mehr, who participated in the tournament, is requesting that the city consider using Recreation, Arts and Parks tax funds toward the memorial.
“It can certainly be considered a work of art,” Mehr said during the council’s Nov. 16 meeting. The memorial will be discussed during the council’s next meeting on Dec. 7.
The memorial, estimated to cost between $300,000 and $400,000, would consist of four large rectangular stones with Ivins veterans’ names etched on black granite atop the signature Ivins red sandstone, as well as a bronze statue, a flagpole and stone benches.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.