Florence to dedicate city’s Veterans Park on Tuesday

Florence will dedicate the city’s Veterans Park in a ceremony beginning at 11 a.m. Tuesday off Woody Jones Boulevard behind Florence Civic Center.

The event will feature speaker Charles F. Bolden Jr., a Columbia native and retired Marine major general who flew on four space shuttle missions in the 1980s.

A Florence Men’s Chorus patriotic concert will follow at 6 p.m.

The $4 million park honors those who have served in all branches of the U.S. military since 1900.

The initiative for the park began in 2003, when Florence Mayor Frank Willis led a meeting attended by nearly 10 local veterans. Construction on the park began in November 2007.

The park’s initial phase is fully landscaped and features a 440 seat amphitheater, waterfall, meditation area and room for future monuments.

Currently in place is a city monument, moved from another location, that is dedicated to the men and women who participated in Desert Shield/Storm.

During the dedication ceremony, two new monuments will be unveiled.

The first is the center piece, a bronze eagle clutching a snake atop three marble pillars.

The pillars are 24 feet tall, and the eagle is six feet tall with a wingspan of eight feet. Local sculptor, Alex Palkovich, created this one of kind tribute to the region’s veterans.

The second unveiling will be the Wall of Honor.

This wall is dedicated to veterans of the area, living and deceased.

Each honorably discharged veteran, his or her family, or a friend may purchase one of the four inch by nine inch plaques that will have name, rank, dates of service, and conflicts if any.

It can include an inscribed picture or medal for an additional fee.

For more information, call Call Florence Veterans Park Committee Chairman Rick Walden at (843) 665-3045 or committee co-chairman Tom Marschel at (843) 665-0515.