The Augusta Lions Club moved forward with a historic development for the Village of Augusta, dedication of their Veterans Memorial in September. The memorial, located on the east edge of their Children’s Park, was a memorable stone monument with the names of Augusta veterans, both living and deceased.
The listings included both world wars, Vietnam and Afghanistan. These veterans were given tribute by Rev. Jerry Spratt, who served as the emcee for the dedication ceremony.
In a post-event phone interview, Spratt gave credit to both the labor efforts and the contributions which made the memorial possible. He stated that the effort, which spanned six years, raised the money to make it happen, with an estimated cost of $50,000.
Spratt said that the concrete work was done, with the Hiland family deeply involved in that effort.
“Craig (Hiland) was kind of leading the way,” Spratt said. Craig has put a lot of physical labor into this project. So that has saved us a lot of money in the long run.”
“Our golf outing every year in June has probably been the biggest provider of income to put this all together. Of course, we’ve been doing breakfast every year at the fairgrounds,' he added. 'Everything we made has gone to financing this project.”
Spratt outlined a recent development which will help with the future development of the park grounds as well. “We have been able to get a 501(c)3 unit tax free from the government. Therefore, we can now apply for grants from corporations because before, corporations might give a little bit of money. But it was not deductible for them.”
“But now that we have the 501(c)3, they can give to that. The contributions from those sources will increase. So this will be a real big help to enlarging the park project. Like furnishing other pieces of equipment and whatever they decide to do there.”
Spratt also credited a good working relationship with the Augusta Village Board as contributing to the success. “Cooperating together, we’ve kind of led the way on it. But they have been very helpful. At times, they share expenses with us for certain things for the park. But the memorial is all ours.”
“We’ve provided all the funds for that, but the village has helped out with the park a lot. I believe that has brought us favor with the board. It’s a relationship which has been beneficial to both of us.”
Spratt went on to explain the mechanism of the 501(c)(3) program.
“It has to be a separate entity from the Lions,” Spratt said. “Even though it’s under the Lions administration. It’s something that has to be designated for certain activities which may not include all of the things that the Lions would do. But it opens the door of opportunity for companies that might not have given before.”
Spratt said that he had run into several occasions where lack of the designation prevented a company from making a donation. “There’s a few that give small donations, but the big money comes when you have got a tax exempt organization and that’s what we have got now. So we are very thankful.”
“Craig (Hiland) and his wife (Cierra) have been a big help here and Craig’s family has picked up the ball and run with it in the physical labor that went into this memorial project. So we have to give them a big hand clap.”
