You might have read that the Eternal Flame at Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Park in Bullhead City was extinguished for a short time earlier this month, upsetting more than a handful of local residents. While it’s not entirely clear why it was turned off exactly, it does seem to stem from a gas bill received by the City. I won’t go much further into that because the problem has been rectified – at least for now. Hey, we all make mistakes. In this case somebody made one indeed.
You can’t really have an “eternal” flame unless it’s, you know, eternal.
But there is more to this story, and it’s not about the City or a gas bill. It’s about community. When I found out that a client of mine who JUST purchased a home in the area had already made her mark as a positive, contributing member of our community, I had to share. Here it is in her words:
In late September 2008, I decided to move to Bullhead City for many reasons, and one of the reasons was the pride the city showed for honoring their veterans. But, before I have relocated to Bullhead City (I am currently in the process) someone in the city government decided to shut down the flame to the memorial because it cost too much for the city to maintain due to the city budget and current financial crisis.
My grandfather was a survivor of Pearl Harbor, my father was submariner in WWII, my brother was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. They all survived, but all had horrific stories about their survival. Other families have their own war veterans with survival stories throughout the United States. Many have lost their loved ones. This memorial was to honor the fallen veterans.
How could they have an unexpected gas bill? hmmm Someone made a poor decision to shut off the gas to the “perpetual” flame at Bullhead City’s veteran’s memorial, without coming up with any other creative solutions and without thinking about the consequences. To me it was like shutting down the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor or turning off the flame at John F. Kennedy’s grave site. You don’t just shut it off the “perpetual” flame to the memorial because of the gas bill. And I reacted.
I contacted the author of the story in the Mohave Daily news and have since been in contact with Veteran’s United Inc. I suggested there are other ways to make funds available to pay for the gas bill, for instance set up an endowment fund using donations from donors and the funds at the donation boxes. The interest from this account will be able to pay for the gas bill. If enough revenue is generated from it, those funds could be used for further enhancement of the memorial. As an interest bearing account, there will always be revenue generated. I have other ideas as to how to make this successful, and when I do arrive at my new residence, I have been invited to meet with Veteran’s United Inc for a tour of the memorial and to talk about the situation.
Knowing that the flame has been re-ignited makes me feel that more people in the area would rather find other solutions to pay the bill than to just shut it off, and they were heard by the City. Once relocated, I am looking forward to meeting with Veteran’s United Inc and to have the tour of the memorial and get a further background of it’s origins and current status. I hope to discuss some creative solutions with him so that everyone can work together and come up with a plan for “perpetual” funding so this will never happen again.
Yours truly,
Elaine
You can sit around blaming people or you can part of the solution.
Way to go Elaine and welcome to our community. We are glad to have you!
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The city council has again decided to turn off the flame.
We need your help.