Friday, June 9th, 2017
Coldwater paying homage to hometown military heroes
By William Kincaid
Photo by William Kincaid/The Daily Standard
Coldwater American Legion Post 470 is purchasing heavy-duty vinyl banners honoring service members and veterans. The banners will soon be put up by village employees. Pictured are American Legion Post 470 project chairman Ron Stachler, left; ladies auxiliary member Barbara Klosterman, standing next to a banner of her late husband, Thomas Klosterman, who had served 22 years in the U.S. Navy and retired as a chief petty officer; and village manager/engineer Eric Thomas, standing next to a banner of his late father, Thomas Thomas, a U.S. Air Force veteran.
COLDWATER - Village officials are partnering with Coldwater American Legion Post 470 members to add a splash of patriotism to the town's two main streets to honor living and deceased hometown heroes.
American Legion members are ordering two-sided, heavy-duty vinyl banners featuring the name, picture, active years of service and rank of Coldwater armed services members as part of their "Salute to our Vets." The banners, measuring 17 inches wide by 48 inches long, will also feature the emblem of each veteran's military branch, according to project chairman Ron Stachler.
So far, 20 "Salute to our Vets" banners are being created by Mercer Color. Upon completion in the coming days, the banners will be hung by village employees on streetlight poles for display on Main and Second streets, village manager/engineer Eric Thomas said.
The banners will remain on display from spring to fall.
"When the holiday decorations aren't up, then we'll have these banners up," Thomas said.
Legion members are accepting banner orders. Service members or veterans can be either living or deceased and of any military branch and time period but must have a connection to Coldwater to be considered for the project.
"We don't have a limit, but some day there may be a limit as to how many we're going to put up," Thomas said. "We're looking at possibly 60 being a threshold and then what we would do, maybe talk about rotating, have them up for three months and then rotate them if we get more than 60."
The idea came about when a resident saw veteran banners hanging in West Milton, Thomas noted.
"She brought it to my attention and I passed it along to Ron Stachler and the American Legion, and it took off from there," he said.
The Coldwater Chamber of Commerce is purchasing the brackets for the banners.
