The Wellman Veterans and First Responders Memorial project is in the preliminary stages and a fundraiser this month will benefit the project. Wellman City Administrator Kelly Litwiller shares where the idea originated, “The past few 4th of July[s], if you came into town for our events at the top of Main Street, on Highway 22 and 8th Avenue, coming into downtown, Townsend Crane has been flying a huge flag. And that’s kind of where it started, was everybody was like, ‘If we had a huge flag flying there all the time, do you know how beautiful that would be coming into town from all the directions and you could see it. And then that’s kind of where it sparked with the Mayor Ryan Miller and I talking and said, ‘You know, maybe we should look at doing the memorial site there.'”

On January 22nd the Wellman Rotary Club is hosting a freewill donation soup supper. Litwiller adds how the local Rotary Club joined in the effort, “Their goals are to obviously do projects within the community and do development and help with those community projects. And when this was brought up that the city was going to start doing, they were right on board with wanting to be a part of it.”

The firm MSA is doing the design work with input from community members representing the fire department, EMS, Rotary Club, city council, and the sheriff’s office. Litwiller says they will get input from the community as the design process progresses. The plan is to have a design selected in the first half of the year and have the project done in the fall. The soup supper fundraiser will be held January 22nd from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Wellman Parkside Activities Center with both sitdown service and carryout available.