Please join in dedicating Mt. Lebanon’s new Veterans Memorial, Sunday, May 27, at 7:30 p.m.—the evening before Memorial Day—on Morgan Drive at the entrance to Mt. Lebanon Park. The community raised more than $245,000 for the project; those donations combined with a $220,000 Power of Light grant from Duquesne Light allowed Mt. Lebanon to move forward. Designed by Loysen Kreuthmeier Architects and constructed by Vento Lanscaping, the memorial honors all Mt. Lebanon veterans and pays special tribute to those who gave their lives in conflict. The names of those who died will be inscribed on the base of the obelisk that bears the America flag. Donors who gave more than $1,000, many in honor of veterans, will be recognized on the memorial’s semicircular stone wall.

The event will wrap up at dusk, around 8:30, when the lights that fan out from the memorial, symbolizing those who served close and far from home, will be turned on. Keynote speaker for the dedication is Mt. Lebanon resident, Vietnam veteran and former Pittsburgh Steeler Rocky Bleier, who served as a campaign chair for the memorial along with former Mt. Lebanon Commissioner Dan Gigler. Elected officials and other committee members will participate in the dedication, including Mt. Lebanon Commission President Dave Brumfield, Gigler, KDKA’s Jon Delano, who will be the master of ceremonies, District Justice Blaise Larotonda, former Commissioner Dan Miller, who launched the project two years ago, and representatives of Duquesne Light. Members of the committee headed by Wallace Workmaster that selected the site and chose the architect also will be present.

A military honor guard will present the colors, and World War II veteran Bob Daley of the Veterans Breakfast Club and the South Hills Chorale will sing The Star Spangled Banner. The Center for Theater Arts and professional musicians from Carnegie Mellon University also will provide music.

“The memorial is a grassroots effort—the result of many hours of volunteer work and hundreds of donations, most of them relatively small,” says Public Information Office Susan Morgans, who has served as staff liaison to the project. “It truly belongs to the community, and in its visible location will serve as a constant reminder of the price paid for freedom.”

Brew Fest III, presented by the municipality and the Sunrise Rotary and sponsored by Howard Hanna’s Mt. Lebanon office, will take place Saturday, September 22, from 4 to 7 p.m., at Clearview Common. Some proceeds will go toward paying final construction bills and establishing a long-term maintenance fund for the memorial and the remainder will go to Rotary’s community charities. Tickets are $25 in advance (glass guaranteed) and $30 at gate and will be available at various locations beginning in July.