Page 20 - 2018 TR Explore White County

20SS SUNDAY, JULY 29, 2018
ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE • EXPLORE WHITE COUNTY
PARKS
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those who gave their lives. e monument also has bricks engraved with the names of service members who died in combat.
Nick Cartwright said the idea for the monument was part of a project he and a friend worked on for the EAST Initiative in high school.
“We had the idea to do a veterans memorial because we both have veterans in our families, and Rose Bud didn’t have anything,” he said.
Cartwright said Rose Bud has several veterans from the area, including Army Staff Sgt. Nicky Bacon, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor.
“We didn’t have anything to really honor these people,” Cartwright said.
While he was in high school, Cartwright said, the project never really got off the ground, but after he graduated from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway in 2016, he revisited the idea.
Cartwright said he raised funds from members of the community, held fund- raisers and got some small grants from the Rural Community Alliance and the Arkansas Department of Heritage. Some of the money was also donated to pay for labor and materials, he said.
The Rose Bud City Park has a covered pavilion that can be rented for events. For the kids, there is a variety of playground equipment.
STACI VANDAGRIFF/THREE RIVERS EDITION
The city of Beebe made a number of improvements to the city ballpark last year. New infield turf was added, and the parking lots were repaved.