WILLMAR -- A ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday to dedicate a new statue honoring the contributions of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The statue was placed this past summer on North Business 71, next to the Flags of Honor memorial.
It commemorates the Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-era program from the 1930s that put young men to work on conservation-related projects.
The statue was funded by Ernest Manthey of Willmar, an alumnus of the corps. Another alumnus, Herb Amundson of Willmar, paid for the fieldstone base. The statue is part of a national project to have a corps statue in every state.
The dedication ceremony on Wednesday will include comments by Willmar Mayor Les Heitke, Sen. Dean Johnson and Rep. Al Juhnke. Guest speakers are Walter Atwood, president of the National Association of CCC Alumni, and John Seleski, chairman of the corps statue program. Former corps members also will share some of their stories of working with the corps.
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The public is invited to attend.
