Following up the official recognition in April, the Veterans Memorial Committee announced to Slatington residents its plans to construct a monument in the town.

The memorial is set to be built at Memorial Park located on the grounds of the former Slatington High School. The main attractions will include a granite monument listing all Northern Lehigh area servicemen who lost their lives in the line of duty, seven flagpoles for each of the branches of service, MIA-POW and American flags as well as engraved bricks listing the names of veterans.“The committee hopes to dedicate the monument on Veterans Day, Nov. 11,” said committee Chairman Dave Altrichter.According to Altrichter the group began meeting in an unofficial capacity last summer as a spinoff of the Northern Lehigh Historical Society. After realizing the community’s interest in a memorial, the committee’s mission became to honor vets by updating the park.“After 10 months of research, planning and organizing, the committee is now moving forward with their plans for the memorial,” Altrichter said.Fencing around the memorial grounds will be added with landscaping, lighting and park benches to spruce up the area. The committee has researched grants to help pay for the site’s development but needs the public’s help to complete the project. The committee will start selling 4-by-8-inch engraved bricks for $50 to give the community a chance to honor living or deceased veterans.The brick purchaser may choose the words engraved in the mortar with an inscription of up to three lines of 15 letters per line.The bricks will be placed in raised beds for better visibility in the park, according to the site’s plans. Brick forms are available at Slatington and Walnutport Borough halls, Washington Township Municipal Building, Slatington American Legion, Walnutport VFW, Slatington Library and local businesses.“Slatington has a long, rich and proud military history stemming back from the earliest settlers. Members of the Kern family, the original inhabitants of what would become present-day Slatington, served in the Revolutionary War. Since that time, during wartime and peace, men and women from the Slatington area have answered our nation’s call to arms. Twenty-nine men from the Civil War to the present have paid the supreme sacrifice and will be honored by their inclusion on the monument,” he said.The Veterans Memorial Committee is accepting donations of any amount for the construction of the memorial. Donations maybe mailed to Slatington Veterans Memorial Committee, P.O. Box 224, Slatington, PA 18080. Make checks payable to: Northern Lehigh Historical Society. Veterans Memorial needs to be included in the memo line.For more information, visit the committee’s Facebook page listed under Slatington Veterans Memorial.