Museum seeks donations for pavilion chapel

Gregory Erickson, left, owner of American Landscapes; Riley Wayne Pate, 9, and his father Thomas Pate, owner of TPA MetalWorks, Concrete and Excavating, pose at the archway of the killed-in-action walkway Pate is building at the Museum of Veterans and Military History in Vilonia. Fundraisers, including a talent show on Sept. 10, are scheduled to go toward the walkway, as well as a multipurpose pavilion/chapel that will be available for free for veterans’ memorial services and a Gold Star Families Garden.
Gregory Erickson, left, owner of American Landscapes; Riley Wayne Pate, 9, and his father Thomas Pate, owner of TPA MetalWorks, Concrete and Excavating, pose at the archway of the killed-in-action walkway Pate is building at the Museum of Veterans and Military History in Vilonia. Fundraisers, including a talent show on Sept. 10, are scheduled to go toward the walkway, as well as a multipurpose pavilion/chapel that will be available for free for veterans’ memorial services and a Gold Star Families Garden.

VILONIA — As a hot breeze blew across the hill, Linda Hicks pointed to the view of a pond, green grass and woods on Mount Olive Road in Vilonia.

“What a place to have your memorial service,” she said.

The Museum of Veterans and Military History in Vilonia, 53 N. Mount Olive Road, has a packed schedule of events to raise money for three projects, including a pavilion/chapel where veterans memorial services can be held for free. The project also includes a paved killed-in-action walkway with benches and a Gold Star Families Garden.

The chapel is being built at the museum site, which is on 2 acres Charlie Weaver of Vilonia donated. The museum’s original location was destroyed in April 2014 by an EF4-rated tornado. The new building opened a year later.

Hicks, who also is president of the museum board, and her husband, Paul, a Vietnam veteran, go to a lot of veterans’ funerals, she said.

She said they have seen memorial services held outside at the veterans memorial at the Vilonia Senior Citizens Center, as well as in cemeteries.

“What we have found, when they have them [services] out in cemeteries and out at the senior citizens center … there are a lot of elderly people at them, and they’re trying to stand up on their walkers, or they’re just teetering,” she said. She remembered one in particular where the family and friends of a veteran were standing outside. “It was cold, cold and spitting rain,” she said.

Hicks said they decided right then to start working on getting a chapel.

In addition, some veterans are taken to other parts of the country to be buried. “When they die, they’re taken somewhere else maybe to have their funerals, which is where they’re from, but their friends are here. It’s hard for their friends to travel, even to Northwest Arkansas,” Hicks said.

The chapel will be a place for people to gather and remember veterans, she said.

“This is going to be a small pavilion-type chapel; we’ll have seating for about 50 people, and more seating can be brought in,” she said. It will be covered and have a couple of open sides.

She is calling it Peace Chapel/Patriotic Pavilion.

Tommy Pate of Vilonia, who owns TPA Metalworks, Concrete and Excavating, is providing materials at cost and donating his time and labor. He said his sons, Riley Wayne Pate, 9, and Thomas Pate Jr. 16, have helped.

Pate said the 20-foot-by-20-foot building is “going to look real nice,” but the extent of it will depend on donations. “We have a lot of big ideas — like everything else, it takes money,” he said.

Hicks said museum board members found a building design they liked and will build one that closely resembles it.

Although he’s not a veteran, Pate said he’s passionate about what they’ve contributed to the country.

“I’ve got veterans in my family, and I’ve got a lot of respect for them,” he said. “Veterans built this country. A lot of people take this country for granted and the spoils we created, and they forget it was all fought and died for.”

The pavilion will be utilized for other events, too, Hicks said.

Many schoolchildren visit, Hicks said, and often the museum doesn’t have enough room for all of them.

“We will use it for patriotic programs,” she said. “For instance, one of our veterans will be able to do a flag program here for students. When they walk away, they will know to hold their hands over heart during flag salute and why. They will learn about the flag folds etc. It is a peaceful place, thus why I have called it Peace Chapel.”

Hicks said ground has been broken on the pavilion, and the board has raised $9,000 to date. “We have enough for the foundation,” she said.

The goal is to raise another $10,000.

The concrete walkway, which Pate poured Wednesday, will have bricks along the sides. Individuals may buy engraved bricks to honor their loved ones who were killed in action, Hicks said. Those bricks will be placed on the walkway. Bricks for veterans who served are placed around the flag pole, and bricks honoring others are placed around the museum, Hicks said.

Applications for the bricks, which are $50, can be found on the website, www.veteransmuseumvilonia.com. Gold Star families will be allowed to place benches along the walkway, too, she said.

The walkway leads to a wooden cross at the end, which Pate built, and a bench will be placed at the end. Landscaping is being done by Gregory Erickson, owner of American Landscapes in Conway. He served in the active duty National Guard and is now in the Reserves.

He and Hicks decided to plant crepe myrtles, he said, because of their hardiness. Hicks said the crepe myrtles will be white, and two white dogwoods will be planted at the entrance to the chapel.

The project means more to him, Erickson said, because of his military service. “It gives me a chance to give back — show my respect to those who have been killed,” Erickson said. “Once it’s all done, not only do you get the sense of satisfaction and pride in what you’ve done, whoever comes through there gets to see what you’ve done, too.”

Hicks said she hopes to get most of the work done before the state Gold Star Families Day on Sept. 25. Families of those killed in action throughout Arkansas will gather at noon at the museum, she said.

“I’m just hoping we can raise enough money to get the roof on and the sides up,” Hicks said.

The first fundraiser for the projects is Who’s Got Talent Show, sponsored by the Junior Brigade, at 5 p.m. Sept. 10 at the museum.

The junior brigade is made up of youth who help with events at the museum, Hicks said.

Talent show participants may compete in five

categories: vocal, instrumental, dance, stand-up comedy and miscellaneous other talent. The cost to enter is $25. Snacks can be purchased, including popcorn, drinks, hot dogs, cotton candy and homemade tamales.

The winner gets his entry fee back plus “a crisp $100 bill,” Hicks said. Second place will receive $75; third place, $50.

A registration form is on the website and the museum’s Facebook page, Hicks said, along with a calendar of events.

The museum is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and tours are free. Hicks said about 70 percent of the items were salvaged after the tornado, but some items were too damaged to use. Other pieces of memorabilia have been acquired, including a 70-year collection from former Razorback and football coach Harold Steelman.

“We’ve just had a lot of vets pull together and give us what we have,” she said.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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