HOLDEN – After a trip to the Cole Land Transportation Museum in September and interviews with veterans about their military experiences, a group of Holbrook Middle School eighth-graders decided to take on a project to honor all veterans.

The eighth-graders have dubbed themselves the Kids of Liberty, a new generation of patriots, and recently have acquired matching funds for their planned Holden veterans’ memorial from the Galen Cole Family Foundation.

“When they do the interviews, a lot of [patriotism] is passed on to them,” said Korean War veteran Al Gibson of Brewer, who was one of the people the students interviewed on Wednesday. “I think they see a little differently. It’s different from what they see in a book or in the movies.”

Five students have taken the lead on the service learning-citizenship program project, and the group already has made presentations to the SAD 63 board and the Holden Town Council. The school board agreed to allow the students to build the memorial by the gazebo at Holden Elementary School. And the town’s Public Works Department is going to do the ground work for the project.

Trisha Smith, an eighth-grade language arts teacher, has run the school’s service learning project for the past decade and said it’s a perfect way to connect the students with the community.

“It will be a legacy that they leave behind, not only to the veterans but the future generations,” she said Wednesday.

The student leaders are Jamie Muth, Kylie Danforth, Jasmine Coulter, Emily Ellis and Willie Paine, but the momentum of the project has attracted others. One student, Jermery Patterson, has used his artistic skills to draw a soldier holding a wounded Iraqi child and has sketched what the memorial will look like when finished that will be presented at a Friday fundraising spaghetti dinner and silent action.

Other students stuffed envelopes, sent to every Holden resident, and some have volunteered to make desserts or help serve during the dinner.

“They’re all starting to buy into it and own it,” Smith said.

From the solicitation letters, the group has received about $1,000 in donations, and several businesses and other local people have pitched in with materials, including flag polls, flags, and stone and granite for the memorial’s base.

The entire project cost is estimated at $16,050, and the Galen Cole Family Foundation has agreed to match up to $10,000.

The veterans’ memorial fundraising dinner is scheduled for 5-8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 29, at the Holbrook Middle School and will include a presentation from the Kids of Liberty. Costs are $5 for adults, $3 for those 12 and under and $15 for families.

Veterans eat for free.

“It’s a good cause,” Smith said. “It’s a good experience for kids, for all of us.”

nricker@bangordailynews.net

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