Thomas Hankins provided a brief update on the improvements and future plans for the fort construction in 2027 and 2028.
Note that the event “Rededication of the Tomb of the Unknown Patriot at Fort Laurens – Bolivar OH (C) (D) (S) (250)” will occur on Saturday June 27th from 1:00pm – 5:00pm. Color Guard members are requested to arrive at 11:30am.
Address to the event is:
40.639426 -81.455699
Here are some pictures of the new monument and benches in place.
The new flagpoles will be set next week.
Color Guard or Honor Guard you need to be there by 11:30am because we have a lot to go over. If you plan to be in the Honor Guard and fire a musket you must have 3 cartridges for the musket salute.
The procession to the Tomb will be no different than what we normally do at the July Memorial Service.
The procession will be led by an SAR Fifer and Drummer to and from the Tomb. This ceremony will be a little different in that there will be no official greetings that we usually have.
This ceremony is officially governed by the Ohio Historical Society with help and guidance from the SAR.
There will only be one wreath presented and Governor DeWine and Brigadier General Woodruff will do those honors.
There will be 2 Ohio Army National Guard members in the front row of the Color Guard and 5 Ohio Army National Guard members participating as riflemen in the Honor Guard.
This has been a project that has taken a year and a half to accomplish and as a Co-Chair of the project team I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished. Without the monies designated to this project by the Ohio Legislature it would never have been accomplished.
This has been an opportunity of a lifetime and I’m glad we are able to finish this project in time to celebrate this nation’s 250th founding. OHC (Ohio Historical Committee?) plans to start building the fort in 2027 and be completed by 2028 in order to celebrate its original construction.
We at SAR sincerely encourage everyone to call, email, snail mail OHC to construct the east wall so the fort is totally enclosed. OHC hasn’t decided if it will build that wall or not. In our opinion it should be built to block out I-77.
Please put this on your calendar and arrange to participate. It will be a special event!
