Memorial Day has come and gone and we still have some of the small flags purchased by the DAV for placing on veteran's graves at our historical society. If you have not placed one in honor of your veteran it is not too late to do so. We also commend the DAV for the Flag Raising Ceremony held in Ramey Park on Memorial Day.
We were pleased to have Carolyn Wright, James Montgomery, Ruth Anna Montgomery, Leola Cole, Jessica Miller, Abbie Conley, Roy “Todd” Preston, Belsey Connelley, Luva Connelley, Ruth May, Vivian Tackett, Kay Bentley, Dallas Bentley, Dorothy Shepherd Wireman, Jodi Wright, Stacey Blanton, Sarah Shepherd, Connie Arnett Wireman, Barbara Welch and Paul Welch attending the monthly meeting of our historical society on the 21 st of May. Unbeknown to Ol' Todd, Kay Bentley had baked a big cake and some of the others brought in side dishes and had a surprise birthday party for Todd who was born 1 Jun 1928. I like to skip telling how old that makes me but I am thankful that I am still able to climb hills even if my gait is getting slower than common.
Needless to say we didn't get much business transacted but did get a report on the progress of Stacy Blanton's typing the veteran's material for the 28 th Annual Founder's Days.
Now folks, we realize we took on one of our largest projects ever in collecting info on all veterans with Magoffin County ties and although we have mentioned it every week for over a year, a great many families of veterans right here in our county are not aware of what we are trying to do and that is to honor all veterans. We realize that a great many names are on the VAMCCO memorial in the park but we are endeavoring to provide a written record to make the information more personal by including pictures, personal experiences, service medals acquired, etc.
Now that we are printing we want to bring the collection process to a close so if you intend to get a good coverage of your veteran do so soon as we have to bring this part to a close.
On May 22 I attended another birthday party for my cousin and neighbor, Imogene Conley. With all the goodies served there I've had to let out my belt a notch or two. I would like to report that Imogene is “right pert” and has supplied me with some of our gourd seed which I planted in our flower garden here so we may have wall to wall gourds instead of flowers (smile). I had already brought all my ferns down and reset them amongst the other flowers. Since I've become the lone gardener here I want to have plants that require less work.
Last Sunday evening my daughter Jessica and I visited the Puncheon Creek area cemeteries then on Thursday afternoon my buddy James Montgomery and I made another exploration with Tom Marshall as guide. Now there are over 30 cemeteries on both forks of Puncheon and I still haven't gotten to all of them but we have found the major portion of the veteran's graves in this area. I now have pictures of 475 veteran's grave markers.
I realize I can't get from Salt Like to the head of the river and head of Trace as we are into printing the veteran's book and I understand the portion with names beginning with A has been typed and it has run way over 100 pages so I plead with anyone who would furnish pictures of markers in that area of the county to do so. It would be a great help.
It is not an absolute necessity to have these pictures but in some cases that may be the only identification that we can obtain of some of our veterans.
On Saturday my daughter Jessica and I visited my dad's family cemeteries in Paintsville that I feel responsible for, one being the Preston Cemetery where my grandfather, gr/grandfather and gr/gr/grandfathers are interred. It's kind of ironic that most of my cousins have moved out of the area or have passed away so that I'm about the only one left.
We then went to the Town Cemetery where my gr/gr/grandfather Daniel Hager is buried and then on up the hill to where my gr/grandfather John Walker is buried. I ran out of weed eater string so we didn't get to the John Vaughn Cemetery , a third great grandfather. We did stop on the way home at my mother's Helton Cemetery. We found it was in the process of being cleaned so we pitched in and helped. This is where my gr/gr/grandfather is buried. We stopped at the Penix Cemetery and found it had been cleaned and saw the grass I had sowed around “Aunt” Sallie Reed's grave is coming up nicely.
There is a strong move on to memorialize all Viet Nam veterans with a memorial this coming Founder's Day 2006. Plans are to temporarily set this marker in the Community Center yard for the dedication and until a permanent place can be prepared at the proposed Magoffin County Administrative Building . For this to become a reality there must be a lot of banding together by a lot of people. A small group of has been planning this for years and they have about $2,000 toward the purchase of the memorial.
The soldiers of this era deserve a lasting memorial of their own. Several gave their lives in the conflict or are now deceased. In fact, I have pictures of 25 Viet Nam veterans' graves. It is true that some of these are named on the veteran's memorial in Ramey Park but Ol' Magoffin is almost No. 1 in the state in memorializing their veterans and this proposed monument would put us over the top. How many of you would commit to be a part of this undertaking?
We can be reached at 606-349-1607, visit at 191 South Church Street in Salyersville, write Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465 or email
[email protected].
Magoffin County Historical
Society
This
article, written by Todd Preston, the president of the
Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the
June 1, 2006
issue of