June 18, 2024 |
Photo – Elk Mountain Museum – Courtesy Elk Mountain Museum
Plans are underway for the American Legion to build a memorial urn at the Elk Mountain Museum.
During its May 13th meeting, the Elk Mountain town council voted to allow the American Legion to build a war memorial on town property behind the museum building.
Local American Legion Commander Steve Bonner said he plans to construct an urn to respectfully dispose of tattered and ripped American flags. Bonner said the project is still in the planning phase, but is quickly picking up steam.
Bonner said he envisions the monument as a four-foot cube with an urn in the center. The American Legion Commander said a box will hold the flag ashes until they can be buried in a dignified manner. Bonner said he knows of hundreds of tattered flags that need to be properly disposed of.
Bonner said his initial plan was to construct the memorial at the Elk Mountain Cemetery. However, Bonner said the cemetery board denied his request to place the memorial near the large flagpole on the northeastern side of the graveyard.
A representative from the Elk Mountain Cemetery Board told Bigfoot99 that the board as a whole did not approve of the plan because of limited space by the flagpole and the difficulty of maintaining the memorial urn in the harsh weather conditions experienced at the cemetery.
Bonner said after searching around town for a suitable location to build the memorial urn, Elk Mountain Councilwoman and Museum Director Angie Hobbs gave her permission to use the museum grounds. The American Legion Commander said the location isn’t ideal, but members are doing their best to prepare the site for the memorial.
Bonner said he and the other Legion members haven’t settled on a final design for the memorial urn yet. Bonner said American Legion Auxiliary Member Joyce Menke is considering selling engraved bricks to finance the project.
Bonner said he expects the memorial urn to be built using mostly in-kind donations of labor. The American Legion Commander said a representative from Bloedorn Lumber in Laramie has agreed to donate construction material for the project.
Bonner said he believes the memorial urn will serve to increase community pride across the northern portion of Carbon County. However, the American Legion Commander said with only six members, the scope of the project must be kept in check.
Bonner said he does not know when the memorial will be built.
