Rose Bud to dedicate memorial

Nick Cartwright shows the Rose Bud veterans memorial that will be dedicated at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Rose Bud Community Park. The front of the monument, shown here, features emblems for all five branches of the U.S. Armed Services, and the back of the monument bears this Bible verse: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13.
Nick Cartwright shows the Rose Bud veterans memorial that will be dedicated at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Rose Bud Community Park. The front of the monument, shown here, features emblems for all five branches of the U.S. Armed Services, and the back of the monument bears this Bible verse: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13.

— Although both of Nick Cartwright’s parents served in the Army, he said he “never really felt the call to serve in the military.”

“I wanted to serve in another way,” said Cartwright, who, at 23, is serving his first term on the Rose Bud City Council. He is also the northeast Arkansas regional director of the Rural Community Alliance, which, he said, is a statewide nonprofit organization that serves communities of 2,500 people or fewer as an advocate of public education, economy and community development.

Cartwright has led a community effort to build a veterans memorial that will be unveiled and dedicated at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Rose Bud Community Park. A Memorial Day barbecue prepared by members of the “I Heart Rose Bud” initiative will be served following the program, which is being held as a World War I commemorative event under the auspices of the Arkansas Department of Heritage’s celebration of May as Arkansas Heritage Month.

A “mini museum” of World War I items will be set up in the Bill Moon Family Pavilion at the park.

The day’s program will include remarks by Rose Bud Mayor Tammy Momar; White County Judge Michael Lincoln; state Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View; state Rep. Joe Farrer, R-Austin; and Richard Maxwell, a staff member representing U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark.

Kent Hallen, a Rose Bud community veteran, will be the keynote speaker.

The Sgt. W.K. Singleton Pipes and Drum Band of Bartlett, Tennessee, will present the national anthem and service songs, and the Rose Bud High School Color Guard will preset the colors. Members of Woodmen of the World’s Searcy chapter will conduct a flag ceremony.

The Rev. Kelley Biniakewitz, pastor of Rose Bud Assembly of God, will open the program with a prayer.

“I appreciate Nick Cartwright so much for the work he has put into the memorial,” Biniakewitz said.

“This has been his passion, and he has worked diligently to make this possible. This is another great step for our community. Over the past couple of years, there has been a great sense of unity among the churches and people here to do some amazing things,” Biniakewitz said. “We are so glad to partner with Nick and others to honor our heroes.

“As a pastor, I am glad to see our community give honor to the most deserving of people, the men and women willing to put themselves in harm’s way to defend us and our freedom. We can never say thank you enough to them and their families for the sacrifices they make.”

Cartwright said the idea for a veterans memorial began when he was a student at Rose Bud High School.

“I came up with the idea as a project when I was in EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology Inc.) class in junior high and high school,” he said. “I wanted to do something to honor veterans. Both my parents were in the Army, stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany, where they met and where I was born. We moved to Rose Bud when I was in fourth grade.

“My dad, David Cartwright, who is from Wisconsin, was in the Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 15th Infantry, from 1990 to 1998,” he said. “My mom, Lindy, who is from De Queen, was in the 38th Personnel Support Battalion from 1991 to 1994.

“This idea for the veterans memorial has been an ongoing project for several years now,” Nick Cartwright said, smiling.

Cartwright said the fact that Nick Bacon lived in Rose Bud during the last years of his life was also a contributing factor to wanting to build a memorial. Bacon was a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, recognized for his valor while serving in the Army in Vietnam. He was also a former director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs.

“I went to high school with his son, Britt Bacon,” Cartwright said. “My parents knew Nick, and we went to their house many times.”

Cartwright graduated from Rose Bud High School in 2012 and from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway in 2016 with a degree in political science. He is now working on a master’s degree in public administration through online courses offered by Arkansas State University.

“I’ve always had an inkling toward public service,” Cartwright said. “My parents always encouraged me to consider the military, but I just did not feel the calling. I wanted to serve differently.”

Cartwright moved back to Rose Bud following college graduation.

“I feel Rose Bud has so much potential,” he said.

Cartwright said he started working in earnest on the veterans memorial project in February 2016.

“Before I did anything, I wanted to get input from the community. I brought it to the City Council, told them I had had this idea since high school,” he said.

“I talked to Holly Owen, owner of the florist here in town, and she had already collected some money for a memorial to Nick Bacon, but that project never got off the ground. She gave me $200 as start-up money,” Cartwright said.

“Then in March 2016, we had a town-hall meeting,” he said. “Thirty-five to 40 people came, which is really good for a small town like this. My mom and I had gone to all the towns in White County that have veterans memorials and took pictures. I showed those pictures, and other examples, at the town hall. It was a very successful meeting.”

Cartwright said he continued to keep the City Council informed of his progress.

“I wanted to keep it all above board,” he said.

He consulted with Kathy Moss, a community member and artist, then with his cousin, Cade Vallee, who is an art student at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, who came up with a sketch for the memorial.

“It’s a pretty simple design,” Cartwright said. “That seemed to be what everyone wanted.

“Then came the fundraising,” he said. “I talked to a lot of people, … tried to get the word out as much as I could. Our first fundraiser was in June 2016; we had a concert and silent auction. We raised about $1,000.

“My organization gave us a $250 grant, and money came in from individuals and businesses. So by the end of December 2016, we had quite a bit of money.”

Cartwright contacted Bible Monument Co. in Searcy and got a quote.

“They did all the work at cost, and the price was $3,300 for the monument itself,” Cartwright said. “The total cost of the project, which includes landscaping and the purchase and installation of two benches, is about $6,100,” he said. “Razorback Concrete donated the concrete. Robin Covington and family donated the labor to pour it.”

Cartwright said Woodmen of the World in Searcy donated the flags — American and Arkansas — and the flagpoles. Russ Moon of Rose Bud and Moon Landscaping Co. donated his personal labor and the rest of the materials.

“We also received a $1,200 grant from the Arkansas Department of Heritage for the purchase of two benches to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I,”

Cartwright said. “I ordered the benches online, and the agriculture students at Rose Bud High School helped put them together.”

Cartwright said the last fundraiser was an alumni basketball game at Rose Bud High School in March of this year.

“We raised about $1,100,” he said, laughing. “We had over 100 people there. It was a great time.”

Cartwright said the Future Business Leaders of America students at Rose Bud High School placed American flags in Rose Bud Community Park as a way to draw attention to the space for the future veterans memorial.

“The whole community has come together to help,” Cartwright said. “I organized it, but it has been a community effort.”

Residents can still contribute to the memorial project, which will include a separate memorial remembering Nick Bacon that will be installed at a later date.

Personalized granite bricks are for sale at $35 each. Monetary donations can also be made at any Eagle Bank location in central Arkansas.

Information on the veterans memorial is available on Facebook or by contacting Cartwright at (501) 837-0593 or ncartwrighteast@gmail.com.

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