County

Memorial honors county veterans

Volunteers, from left, Fernando Quintero and Thony Juarez of Luke Renniger Log Homes, James Morrell, Troy Claussen, and Jorje Salas, who is also with Luke Renninger Log Homes, put the finished wiring and walls up Monday in time for the unveiling of the Rio Blanco County Veterans Memorial on the front lawn of the Rio Blanco County Courthouse in downtown Meeker. The statue will be unveiled and dedicated following the Fourth of July Parade on Thursday. The VFW chapters in Meeker and Rangely raised $120,000 in cash or in-kind work to complete the statue, which honors all veterans of all wars and peacetime from Rio Blanco County. Former Marine Sgt. Tom Kilduff, past commander of the Meeker VFW, said Rio Blanco County has one soldier still missing in action from Vietnam, U.S. Air Force Capt. Mark Giles Danielson, who had his AC-130A shot down June 18, 1972.
Volunteers, from left, Fernando Quintero and Thony Juarez of Luke Renniger Log Homes, James Morrell, Troy Claussen, and Jorje Salas, who is also with Luke Renninger Log Homes, put the finished wiring and walls up Monday in time for the unveiling of the Rio Blanco County Veterans Memorial on the front lawn of the Rio Blanco County Courthouse in downtown Meeker. The statue will be unveiled and dedicated following the Fourth of July Parade on Thursday. The VFW chapters in Meeker and Rangely raised $120,000 in cash or in-kind work to complete the statue, which honors all veterans of all wars and peacetime from Rio Blanco County. Former Marine Sgt. Tom Kilduff, past commander of the Meeker VFW, said Rio Blanco County has one soldier still missing in action from Vietnam, U.S. Air Force Capt. Mark Giles Danielson, who had his AC-130A shot down June 18, 1972.
MEEKER I The ground was broken in early June on the lawn and sidewalk at the Rio Blanco County Courthouse, but the statue and the stone/concrete construction of the actual Rio Blanco County Veterans Memorial will be unveiled and dedicated in downtown Meeker on Thursday after the parade.
The memorial honors the first soldiers who garrisoned Rio Blanco County and continues to honor all men and women in the Armed Forces up through the current conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan – of all ranks and service.
The sculpture is a joint venture between VFW Post No. 5843 in Meeker and VFW Post No. 5261 in Rangely.
Joe Dungan, the veteran services officer for Rio Blanco County as well as for VFW Post No. 5843, said, “This is a memorial to all the men and women of Rio Blanco County who have ever fought for our county.
He said the county commissioners approved the memorial and then the VFWs set about raising their goal of $93,500 in cash.
“Along with the cash goal, we had many people and companies help out with in-kind donations,” Dungan said. “All together, the project has raised about $120,000.”
Dubbed “Sacrifice and Resolution,” the sculpture is a bronze of a 1-1/4 -life-sized modern-day infantry soldier, sculpted by Meeker resident John Kobald.
Kobald grew up in Illinois and started creating art under the guidance of his father, Ray, who is also a widely respected artist.
John has said he is honored to create this sculpture since he is part of a military family – his father was in the U.S. Air Force, his brother a Navy pilot and John was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army. John’s paintings and sculptures are in private, corporate and public collections around the world.
The location in front of the courthouse is a reminder of our freedoms and of those who served to protect them. The soldier will face west, “vigilantly climbing upward with the evening sun to highlight his features,” a fundraising brochure states.
The base will be constructed of the same stone that is on the courthouse and will hold plaques for military branches.
The brochure also states, this is “a memorial to the first pioneers, many of whom fought in the Civil War and who established the nation’s first service organization, the Grand Army of the Republic. The memorial honors those who served in the Spanish-American War and World War I. Those two wars alone were a watershed moment for America, a time when an isolationist nation involved itself in world affairs and began the rise to the economic and military power that America is today.
“From Europe to the far Pacific, our solders defended freedom in World War II. Our men held back the threat of communism subsuming Asia during the Korean War. In Vietnam we protected the defenseless. More recently, our military has defined and taken down numerous threats to American interests world wide, emanating from the Middle East.”

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It’s getting late, do you know where your kids are? Read all the Rio Happenings for this week in print or online at ht1885.com.
It’s getting late, do you know where your kids are? Read all the Rio Happenings for this week in print or online at ht1885.com.
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Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line.  The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale.
Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line. The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale. Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch. See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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