All county residents are invited Saturday evening as the Town and Country Band, the Friends of Rippey and Greene County veterans groups join to raise funds for the completion of Greene County’s Freedom Rock.
The Town and Country Band will perform Aug. 13 at 6:30 pm on Main St in Rippey, in front of the library. Concert-goers should bring lawn chairs, as seating will be on the library lawn.
Veterans and Friends of Rippey will serve sweets and ice cream. Donations will be accepted during the evening, with all proceeds going toward the Freedom Rock.
The band will play a variety of music, including some it played at the Municipal Band Festival in Boone last month. By popular request the band will perform a musical veterans salute. All area veterans are encouraged to attend the concert and be recognized during the salute.
The band is directed by Victoria Chargo, a 2011 Jefferson-Scranton graduate who is now the band director at Audubon. “We were happy to be invited to play in Rippey, and even happier when the evening became a fundraiser for the Freedom Rock. This is a great way for us to participate in a project that’s important to so many people,” Chargo said.
The Freedom Rock will be located in Jefferson between the Milwaukee depot and the fairgrounds at a site recently donated to the Greene County Fair Association by Landus Cooperative. The old Milligan grain elevator will be the backdrop.
The Freedom Rock committee includes Dawn Rudolph, Greene County board of supervisors; Bob Allen and Gary Schiltz, Greene County Fair Association; Dave Sloan, city of Jefferson; and veterans Don Ihnken, Jim Andrew and Kenneth Arbuckle.
Artist Bubba Sorenson will paint the rock next April. The committee is working to raise between $15,000 and $20,000 to cover Sorenson’s fees and the necessary landscaping, lighting, cement work and signage.
The rock is slated to be moved to the site sometime this month, according to Rudolph. An account has been set up at Peoples Trust & Savings Bank. Donations may be left at any branch office of the bank.
The theme for the rock has been selected, according to Rudolph. The military convoy that came through Greene County on Highway 30 with Dwight D Eisenhower will be recognized as will the Greene County National Guard members who were prisoners of war in World War II. On top of the rock, the Medal of Honor flag that was designed by Bill Kendall of Jefferson will be displayed.
