HOLDREGE – A full day of live music, food, fun and games is planned on May 22 to raise money for Holdrege’s new Veterans Memorial. South Central Nebraska CERT in cooperation with other area organizations is planning the first annual Veterans Memorial Park Fundraiser, a full-day event to raise money to build and maintain a new veterans memorial.
The event will take place from 7:30 a.m.-midnight with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. and an official renaming of the South Park to Veteran’s Memorial Park.
“We have all been cooped up for a long time, and everyone will be ready for a full day of fun,” event coordinator Cody Tiedje said. Tiedje leads South Central Nebraska’s County Emergency Response Team, which consists of about 35 volunteer community members trained to help in times of emergency, such as tornadoes or other disasters.
Tiedje and his team are leading efforts to organize the event, which he hopes will become an annual celebration to raise funds for the veteran’s memorial construction and maintenance. Other partnering organizations include the Holdrege Area Chamber of Commerce, the Phelps County Development Corporation, the Phelps County Community Foundation and the Holdrege Veteran’s Memorial Committee, which is coordinating the construction of the memorial.
The new Holdrege Veterans Memorial will honor veterans who served in one or more federal services of the U.S. Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and Space Force. It is currently under construction on the northwest side of the South Park baseball field near Highway 183. It will include five granite monuments listing the names of local veterans.
All proceeds from a hotdog/hamburger feed at the May 22 event will go toward the memorial. Donation buckets will be set up throughout the park as well. Tiedje said the event will take place throughout the entire South Park. The day will start with a pancake feed, live Christian music, and cornhole, volleyball and horseshoe tournaments.
The Don Sjogren Community YMCA is organizing the volleyball tournament, and registrations are due May 16. Participants of horseshow and cornhole can register the morning of May 22 .Afternoon events will include craft vendors, food trucks, a law enforcement and military vehicle show and shine, and children’s activities (bounce houses, storybook walk and face painting).
The veterans memorial groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 4 p.m. and will include the national anthem, a patriotic fly-over, the color guard and the renaming of the park. Evening entertainment will include a beer garden, hamburger and hot dog feed, and live bands.
For more information about the event, please contact Tiedje at scnc.ne@gmail.com or 308-991-6161. For more information about the veterans memorial project, please visit https://bit.ly/33rGQdn.
