Nathan Gardner — vice commander of American Legion Post 74, Chesterfield — served as master of ceremonies for the dedication ceremony and acknowledged the gold star families in attendance, as well as veterans and currently serving military.

Gardner said in an email interview that he, along with leadership of the Chesterfield County American Legion post, had organized the ceremony.

County Administrator Michelle Stanley had credited Gardner in a March interview as the de facto “project manager” of the park, which opened to the public June 8.

The park has been in the works for about three years, according to Gardner, who had served active duty in the US Army for 13 years and is currently in the Army Reserve. Early plans had called for a 300-foot memorial wall, which had proven too expensive and was removed from the project.

The project entailed moving the existing gold star monument on the grounds of the Chesterfield County judicial center, 200 W. Main St. in Chesterfield, as well as relocating flagpoles with US military branch flags from across the street. New sidewalks, sod, shrubbery, benches and flagpole lighting had to be installed.

The addition of sidewalks makes the park, particularly the gold star monument, more accessible to people in wheelchairs, according to state Rep. Richard “Richie” Yow — District 53, Chesterfield — who was a guest speaker at the event and is credited by Gardner as the project’s sponsor and by Stanley as having been instrumental in obtaining state funding for the park.

Yow, who had retired from the US Air Force, said he had helped secure a $50,000 grant from the SC Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism via the Chesterfield County Legislative Delegation.

The Park and Recreation Development Fund is “a state-funded, noncompetitive, reimbursable grant program for eligible local governments or special-purpose district entities which provide recreational opportunities within each county,” according to the state Parks, Recreation and Tourism website. The fund is an 80-20 match program that helps develop new public recreation facilities or augment existing ones.

Additional funding had come from a $10,000 grant from Duke Energy Foundation, while the County’s state accommodation tax money covered $10,000-$12,000, according to Stanley. Part of SC Code of Laws Title 12, the state applies a 2% charge on accommodations statewide, and the money goes back to municipalities, which can then use the funds toward local tourism.

In February, Chesterfield County Council had awarded $64,623 to DAP Contracting of Monroe, NC, to do the work, which it had started March 9.

Back in March, Stanley had said she hoped the park would open in time for Memorial Day. According to Gardner, “Substantial completion was achieved by Memorial Day, but with the rain that we had before and on Memorial Day, having the ceremony outside at the location was not feasible.”

Tommy Demby, finance officer for American Legion Post 74, also attended the dedication. Demby, along with Gardner and Yow, are credited by Stanley as “the three main ones who got [the project] started.” Both Demby and Yow said that they were not disappointed the park hadn’t opened in time for Memorial Day and that holding the ceremony for Flag Day was just as good.

Demby said in a phone interview, “The timing hadn’t worked out, and Flag Day was the next holiday in line.”

Demby had said in March that, upon completion of construction, the veterans would go on to raise more money so they could actually complete the originally planned memorial wall.

Gardner said, “Having designs and drawings are important for any state or federal project. The County has the drawings on the shelf for the second phase, so if grant funding, earmark funding or private funding becomes available, the County should be able to move quickly with the next phase.”

As part of his speech, Yow recited a poem titled Jimmy and Thomas, written by John Landon. Theresa Hicks — mother of Jason Hicks, whose name is the most recently added to the gold star memorial — wielded the scissors for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Gardner said in the email he hopes the veterans park “will serve as a location that our citizens can go to reflect and honor those who paid the ultimately sacrifice for generations to come.

"I also hope it is a reminder to pray and think of those family members who are still grieving,” he said.