A groundbreaking ceremony for the renovated Veterans’ Memorial Park took place 8:30 a.m. Nov. 4 in the Veterans’ Triangle in Emmaus.

The triangular park is located where South Fourth Street merges with South Third Street and was established to honor the veterans of the borough of Emmaus.

Many residents utilize the area as a place to relax and converse with other community residents. However, it was shared at the ceremony that numerous residents are not aware Emmaus has this memorial for its veterans.

The Emmaus Veterans Committee established renovating this area as one of its goals.

One of the committee members, John Eyer, spoke first at the ceremony informing the crowd the goal is to have the park ready for Memorial Day 2025.

Still Waters, a local landscape architecture firm, drafted the preliminary plan. Although a newer member to the veterans group, Ben Brown shared Andrew Carpenter of Still Waters “took what we had in mind and made the perfect design for what we wanted.”

Carpenter told the crowd he felt many people in Emmaus did not even know there is a memorial for its veterans, so he wanted to create a design to make this memorial stand out.

“Let’s create something that people can’t miss,” Carpenter said.

The plan received preliminary approval from Emmaus Borough Council who agreed to provide support for this endeavor.

Emmaus Borough Manager Shane Pepe attended and Emmaus Mayor Lee Ann Gilbert read a proclamation for the groundbreaking ceremony.

Pennsylvania State Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th, also read a proclamation for the event while Pennsylvania State Rep. Peter Schweyer, D-134th, spoke about his father’s service in Vietnam. Schweyer noted after his father’s return from Vietnam he worked with the Emmaus Parks Department. Schweyer appreciated the renovated park will be for everyone.

The final dignitary to speak was Pennsylvania State Rep. Ryan MacKenzie, R-187th, who thanked all the veterans for their service, time and energy on this project.

Brown closed the remarks by acknowledging that although he might be relatively new to the Emmaus Veterans Committee, he appreciated all the support from his fellow veterans. Brown appeared choked up when thanking his fellow veterans for all their efforts year round and especially on this project.

The special guests then grabbed their shovels and attempted a ceremonial dig to break ground for the project. It was not easy for them to dig their shovels into the earth, however. The lack of rain for the past two months has made the ground extremely hard. They made several attempts and finally succeeded in breaking the ground the best they could. The crowd cheered them on.

While the Emmaus Veterans Committee is a small group that lacks the financial resources due to its limited number of members, they were able to contribute $10,000 to the project. The project is estimated at about $125,000.

Matt and Sammy Stephens of Stephens Funeral Home made a generous donation in support of this project, but the veterans still need help from the community. The committee has established levels of bricks to be used in the memorial. For companies wanting their names and logos on a brick in the wall of the memorial, a “diamond” donation of at least $10,000 is needed. Other levels include “platinum” donations of at least $5,000, “gold” donations are at least $2,500 and “silver” donations are at least $1,000 but any donation is greatly appreciated.

Checks can be made payable to the Emmaus Veterans Committee, Inc. and can be mailed to P.O. Box 161, Emmaus 18049.

All donations are deductible to the extent allowed by law and tax receipts will be issued.

The Emmaus Veterans Committee provides honor guards for more than 50 veterans’ funerals each year. Members devote their own time to numerous veteran causes.

Once the memorial park is completed, members hope to invite local schools to visit the memorial park where they can inform the students about this memorial.

Any additional questions regarding this renovation project can be directed to Brown or Eyer with the Emmaus Veterans Committee.