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Bells and Emblems

by BRIAN WALKER/bwalker@cdapress.com
| July 4, 2014 9:00 PM

POST FALLS - Area residents have rallied in efforts to honor veterans and military personnel at public Post Falls sites.

At Q'emiln Park, where five metal military emblems were pried from concrete and stolen from the base of a flagpole last fall, the emblems have been replaced and installed on a display in time for the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

"It's fitting that the veterans memorial was completed in time for Fourth of July visitors at the park," Mayor Ron Jacobson said.

Funds to replace the emblems and restore the memorial were donated by Joe Dobson, Bennett and Georgia Fuller, Jim and Andi Fehling, Joni Clevenger, Nancy Lyon, Teresa and Tom Capone of Capone's and Community 1st Bank.

Skip Hissong of Summitt Equipment donated the fabrication work and City Councilwoman Kerri Thoreson organized the efforts.

Meanwhile, area families have donated old school bells to recognize veterans and military personnel at Evergreen Cemetery and at City Hall.

Pauline and Dennis Jensen of Rathdrum and Wayne Bomba, who lives north of Sandpoint, donated the bells. Post Falls residents Frank and Betty Ann Henderson secured the donations for the city.

Frank Henderson - who has served as a legislator, Post Falls mayor and a Kootenai County commissioner - said the bells are important because they will be used to honor our freedoms.

"On a local basis, we need to provide a chorus of coherent and unambiguous voices," he said. "We need to show ourselves as proud spokesmen of this country."

The Hendersons placed an advertisement for the bells and offered to buy them, but when the residents learned how the bells would be used, the families refused to take payment. The families will be recognized for their donations, on plaques at the cemetery and City Hall.

Bomba gave the bell to honor his brother who served 35 years in the military. Pauline Jensen said she had planned to use her bell in landscaping, but thought honoring the military would be a better use.

Both bells are cast iron and about 16 inches in diameter.

"The actual history of each bell is unknown, but it is believed they were both used on rural schools in North Idaho," Henderson said.

The Hendersons had the bells sandblasted, reconditioned and power-coated with a bronze color.

The Hendersons did not plan on receiving two bell donations, but felt the desire of the Jensens and Bomba families to have a voice in veterans memorial service could not be denied.

Dave Fair, Post Falls parks and recreation director, said the bells should be installed by the end of summer.

In a traditional Memorial Day ceremony, a bell is rung when the name of a veteran who has died in the past year is announced. Lacking a full-sized bell, a small classroom bell had been used as a statement of appreciation for the veterans' service.

Henderson said it will be more appropriate and expressive of public respect if a large bell with a vibrant sound that can be heard throughout the area is used to proclaim the public's gratitude.