6 I The Lovell Chronicle i May 27, 2010 www.LovellChronicle.com
terans take honor flight
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
About 60 years following the start of
World War II, local veterans who fought in
the United States Armed Forces were giv-
en a chance to visit the memorial that was
built in their honor.
World War II veterans Bob Baird, Bob
Doerr, Pete Harvey and Frank Wilker-
son participated in the Honor Flight last
week, a service that takes WWII veterans
to Washington, D.C., free of charge, to view
the newly completed WWII memorial.
"It was kind of unbelievable," said Bob
Baird, who was in training as an infantry-
man just before the atomic bomb fell on Ja-
pan to end the war. He later was deployed
to Korea.
"When I went into service, everywhere
we went there were people with food to give
and handing out stuff to soldiers," he said.
"That has been a thing of the past, but it
astounded me how many people were there
(during the honor flight). There were so
many people lining up in two lines to shake
our hands as we got on and off the plane
and made our way to the memorial."
The group, along with more than 100
other Wyoming veterans and guardian Ter-
ry Wilkerson boarded the plane in Chey-
enne Tuesday, May 18, landing at Dulles
Airport near Washington, D.C., for a social
hour and dinner. Frank Wilkerson, who
served in the Navy beginning at age 17,
was asked to give an invocation to the room
before the meal. Wilkerson said he must
have done a good job because everyone was
shaking his hand following the meal.
The veterans were bussed with a police
BAv DEvtrx
Guardian Terry Wilkerson (left) poses with World War II veterans Frank
Wilkerson, Bob Baird, Pete Harvey and Bob Doerr at the WWII Memorial in
Washington, D.C.
escort to the memorial the next morning.
The normally 1.5-hour trip took them only
about a half hour to make because of the
police escort, Doerr said.
The veterans met Senators Mike Enzi
and John Barrasso and Rep. Cynthia Lum-
mis before visiting other nearby memori-
als built for conflicts in Korea and Viet-
nam, as well as other landmarks at the
capitol.
"It was very well organized," Doerr
said. "You couldn't turn around without
someone trying to help you do something."
With one guardian to every three vet-
erans, there was plenty of help for any-
one who wanted to go on the flight. There
were veterans in wheelchairs and others
who needed oxygen, and a team of medi-
cal professionals accompanied the honor
flight. The oldest veteran on the trip was
95, Wilkerson said.
Harvey said he was reluctant to go on
the Honor Flight at first until Doerr con-
vinced him to sign up. Harvey said it was
his first time on a commercial jet, which
was also a fun experience. He said he was
impressed with how helpful everyone was,
noting that he only spent $1.20 on a pack of
gum the entire trip.
Each veteran said they would highly
recommend the trip to any veterans who
haven't taken advantage of it yet.
"I just didn't think I'd ever get to see
it," Wilkerson said about the memorial.
"It's the greatest thing they're doing to take
us out to see it."
"Any veterans who want to go, they
can go in just about any condition," Wilk-
erson said. "It was a really great experi-
ence, and a quick trip. Now that it's over,
it seems kind of like a dream."
"It was pretty nice," Harvey said. If
any veteran gets a chance to go, I wouldn't
turn it down."
The World War II Memorial was
opened to the public in 2004. It honors the
16 million who served in the U.S. armed
forces, more than 400,000 who died, and
everyone who supported the war from
home.
RocketsX
BRAD DEWREAUX
Cole Simmons grabs his rocket as it falls from
the sky during the Rocky Mountain Elementary
School rocket launch Friday morning.
School construction
Summer building projects under way
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
As the 2009-10 school
year draws to a close, lo-
cal school districts are get-
ting ready to begin summer
projects to prepare for the
next year of classes.
The largest project in
Big Horn County School
District No. 1 is the comple-
tion of the $22-million Rocky
Mountain 6-12 facility in
Cowley. Superintendent of
Schools Shon Hocker said a
ribbon-cutting ceremony for
the new building is sched-
uled for July 23. Included
in the project is a six-lane
track, which is scheduled
for completion before school
begins, but could possibly
go later, Hocker said.
The School Facilities
Commission will pay for
the majority .of the project,
Hocker said, but the district
has to pay about $900,000
for an auxiliary gym that
is outside the SFC's fund-
ing model, as well as add-
ed costs for bleachers and a
few other enhancements.
The Big Horn Academy
is currently being converted
into district offices in an on-
going project that will con-
tinue through the summer,
Hocker said. The project
cost is about $1.5 million,
which will be paid for with
SFC major maintenance
funds.
A significant remodel is
beginning this week at the
Burlington shop, Hocker
said. The facility was being
vacated earlier this week to
make way for the approxi-
mately $300,000 project be-
ing paid for out of SFC ma-
jor maintenance funds.
A six-lane track at Bur-
lington is ready to be built,
Hocker said, and the dis-
trict is waiting for funds to
be released July 1 for con-
struction to begin July 2.
$250,000 in funding for the
track was secured through
state legislation that cre-
ated the SFC's budget
this year, and the district
will have to pitch in about
$100,000, Hocker said.
Hocker said the new
tracks would be a "huge
benefit" to the track teams
at Rocky Mountain and
Burlington, which have
done excellent despite hav-
ing to travel to neighboring
schools with tracks for prac-
tice and using other make-
shift methods.
The district will also
prepare Rocky Mountain
Middle School for win-
ter storage and is current-
ly working to turn Rocky
Mountain High School over
to the Town of Byron.
LOVELL SCHOOLS
There are several con-
struction projects going on
this summer at Big Horn
County School District No.
2 in addition to the routine
projects like landscaping
and maintenance, accord-
ing to Superintendent of
Schools Dan Coe.
Lovell Middle School
will get a new roof and a set
of bleachers, Coe said, total-
ing $420,000 in SFC major
maintenance funds.
Repairs will be made to
the parking lot at the Lovell
High School gymnasium for
a cost of $367,000 in capital
construction funding from
the SFC, Coe said.
Another $1.5 million in
capital construction will be
spent on a $1.5 million proj-
ect at LHS to replace boil-
ers, HVAC, windows and
perform asbestos abate-
ment in the boiler room.
The summer project is con-
sidered phase one of the
LHS remodel, Coe said,
with the other phases of the
project expected to begin in
the next four to six years.
Other phases will include
a commons area, kitchen,
multi-purpose performance
space and redesigned class-
rooms.
Coe said the board de-
cided to move toward a re-
model of LHS opposed to
new construction because
with a remodel, the district
won't lose any square foot-
age and the existing build-
ing is in good shape, but
needs some upgrade;: Coe
said. A new high school
would be built smaller to
adhere to SFC guidelines. A
remodel would also happen
quicker, Coe said, estimat-
ing new construction could
take more than 10 years to
begin.
Summer school will be
held at Lovell Elementary
School because of the proj-
ects at LMS and LHS, Coe
said.
A small project will
be done to install concrete
trenches at LES to make
water from the new park-
ing lot flow away from the
building, Coe said.
These Lovell banks will be closed
Monday, May 31, 2010
._ Federal /
Gybul], PoweH, Thermopo[is, Cody, Worland, Lovell
00irst National
Bank00Trust
548-2751 • 284 E. Hain • Lovell
!ii:
Let us never forget the patriotism
and courage of those who sacrificed
everything for the sake of the country
they so dearly loved. It is an honor to
recognize the heroism and service of
these great American heroes. They
have forever earned a place in the
heart of our grateful nation.
548-2213 • t79 E. 3rd • Lovell IC
