GREAT FALLS — There will be an open house at the Montana Veterans Memorial in Great Falls on Saturday, July 29, 2023, from 11am until 4pm. Memorial staff will be on site to greet and welcome visitors, answer questions about the history of the site and general area, as well as to assist locating veteran's names and tiles. Light refreshments & water will also be available.
Michael Winters, one of the people who spearheaded the creation of the memorial, noted, "The improvements we've made over the last 20 years, we have the new Space Force emblem in our emblem wall. And this whole site that we're looking at right here is very, very historic.
Winters explained, Going back into the late 1800s, early 1900s, where there was a rodeo grounds here, the Fort Shaw women's basketball team played Great Falls High right here on the spot. Lewis and Clark meandered around this area, looking over the falls and looking over at the Black Eagle Island, and that's how Black Eagle became Black Eagle. And this park was originally Black Eagle Park, so it's just a very interesting place.
He added, "We would like to make sure that the history is kept so that we can preserve, so that it isn't going to fall down in history and be lost. Very important to me, very emotional, the tiles are very emotional to the people who have donated for them. Frequently, we'll see people here just touching their tile, and each tile has its own very own history. And it's a living memorial, so you don't have to be deceased, nor do you have to be from Montana. You have to be a veteran with a honorable discharge."
The Montana Veterans Memorial is at 1025 25th Street North in Great Falls. For more information, or if you would like to honor a veteran, click here to visit the website, or call 406-454-9070.
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