A walk through time with veterans
<p>Linda Fabrizius mixes paint in her work area of the Post Falls City Hall basement Wednesday as she finishes the detail work on a mural she is painting honoring area veterans.</p>
<p>Linda Fabrizius paints details onto a uniform of one of the 23 war veterans represented in a mural that will be unveiled Monday during a ceremony at the Post Falls City Hall.</p>
POST FALLS - Linda Fabrizius has brought the history of veterans to life. The local artist along with support agencies and organizations on Monday will unveil an 8-by-19 powder-coated steel veterans timeline memorial that will be erected on the city center campus facing Spokane Street. The public is invited to the 1 p.m. ceremony on Memorial Day.
POST FALLS - Linda Fabrizius has brought the history of veterans to life.
The local artist along with support agencies and organizations on Monday will unveil an 8-by-19 powder-coated steel veterans timeline memorial that will be erected on the city center campus facing Spokane Street. The public is invited to the 1 p.m. ceremony on Memorial Day.
The memorial features 23 local veterans from the mid-1800s to present on a coast with the corresponding battleships and fighter planes of that era over the ocean in the background.
The memorial honors veterans of all conflicts and dates back to the pre-settlement warrior.
"It's really special to me to honor these people," said Fabrizius, who is part of a military family and a Post Falls Historical Society member. "You see all the hard work and sacrifices these men and women and their families go through and it's unbelievable. They do it because they believe in the freedoms of our country."
Fabrizius, who has been painting the memorial since November, collaborated with the American Legion, Coeur d'Alene Tribe, the city and veterans and their families to design the memorial and collect military photos to paint. She's used the basement of City Hall as her studio on the project.
Kimball Office donated and custom cut 953 pounds of metal panels for the project, which has a value of about $1,000.
The memorial will be a part of the Post Falls History Walk which features people who help shaped Post Falls' history and are on murals in the city center. Fabrizius also painted those figures.
The memorial is also intended to be an educational tool for kids, showing them the wars in order. The banner at the top reads, "Honoring all veterans past and present - Post Falls, Idaho 2010."
John Dunlap, commander of American Legion Post 143 in Post Falls and among those featured on the memorial, said it's something the community can be proud of in a visible location for years to come.
"I think it's great because it's pictures of actual people who served our country," he said. "It goes way back and includes every conflict."
Aside from stipends to help pay for material costs and a few donations from private citizens, Fabrizius has volunteered her time on the project.
Six levels of tax-deductible sponsorships from $25 to $1,000 are available for the project. Donors will be recognized beside the memorial. For more information, call 659-0294 or visit the museum next to City Hall.
Here are the local veterans who are painted on the new timeline memorial that will be erected on the Post Falls city center campus:
Youmas, Coeur d'Alene Tribe, pre-settlement warrior
John Wesley Conaway, Civil War
Guy Boston, World War I
Roy Webster, World War I
Boyd LeRoy Brigger, World War II
Walter F. Chapin, World War II
Felix Aripa, World War II
Clarence McPherson, World War II
Barney Fredikind, World War II
Joseph Donald Kamps, World War II
Melvin Schell, World War II
Robert G. Templin, World War II
George W. Otto, Korea
John Dunlap, Korea
Clay Larkin, Vietnam
Steven Nipp, Vietnam
Earl D. Greer, Vietnam
Eric Keck, Air Force Reserve
Travis Baker, new Marine recruit
Betty Jean Boyer, women in service
Valerie Fast Horse, women in service
Amanda Munson, women in service
Virginia E. Stotly, women in service