Civil War statue committee prepared for April 9 dedication

[March 26, 2011]  The committee in charge of replacing the Civil War statue on the Logan County Courthouse grounds announces that the dedication of the new statue will take place on April 9 at 2 p.m. on the Logan County Courthouse lawn. The original statue, dating from 1869, was destroyed by a storm in December 2008.   (Pictures by Lisa Cale. Click on pictures for larger images.)

On the program for the day are a welcome by Paul Gleason, committee co-chair; invocation by the Rev. Mark Kaley of the First United Methodist Church; Joe Mintjal, speaking on why and how the soldier statute came to be; Sen. Larry Bomke; Rep. Rich Brauer; Rep. Bill Mitchell; Kyle Sullivan, son of Cliff Sullivan (deceased); Bill Donath; closing benediction by Pastor Mark Thompson of Zion Lutheran Church in Lincoln; a 21-gun salute; and playing of taps by John Sutton.

In addition to the new statue, the committee has placed an interpretive sign near the statue, listing the names of Logan County’s Civil War dead and excerpts from Gov. Richard Oglesby’s original dedication speech and from the Lincoln Herald.

After the ceremony, there will be a reception in the first-floor rotunda of the courthouse, and guests can go to the second floor to view the Civil War name board and the research collected for the two boards.

[Text from file received from Bill Donath, president, Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society]