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Elvis In The Building

March 6, 2025

"Thank you, thank you very much:" Bosque County Veterans Memorial Project raises over $11,000 in funds with Elvis Tribute Band fundraiser

MERIDIAN – Not a veteran herself, Andrea Wallum had a WWII Air Force father, who married a British Army soldier Lilian Tryner, whose three brothers were soldiers. Wallum and her two sisters all married Vietnam Veterans, and her brother was a Marine in Vietnam.

Because of this strong military background Wallum has a deep respect and gratitude for veterans and has taken it upon herself to realize a Bosque County Veterans Memorial at the Highway 22/Highway 6 intersection in Meridian.

Together with the Rattlesnake Roadhouse in Walnut Springs, Project Coordinator Wallum offered supporters and patrons a rockin’ and rollin’ fundraiser, with the incredible Kraig Parker Elvis Tribute band on Feb. 21. Parker brought a sultry “hunka burnin’” King of Rock and Roll to life with a powerful voice, over-the-top mannerisms and the ubiquitous deep, slurred “Thank ya, thank ya very much,” after each song.

Parker’s band, with a bass, drums, keyboard and lead guitar offered everything from the melodious ballad “It’s Now or Never,” to a jazzy blues “You Ain’t Nothing but a Hound Dog,” to the 1960s Bossa Nova beat. “It doesn’t get much better than this, y’all, honoring vets,” Parker said. “Freedom is not free. And thanks to our veterans, we are free.”

With her grandfather being a WWII veteran, and her father being a Vietnam veteran, Rattlesnake Roadhouse’s Laura Bush came up with the idea of the Rock and Roll fundraiser to help the Bosque County Veterans Memorial.

“Memorializing our veterans is all the more important after their gone,” Bush said. “I want to help the organization reach their goal and complete their project.”

Bush had set the lofty goal of $10,000, and in the end that was surpassed. Ticket sales – reserved seating came with a spaghetti and salad dinner – the sponsors, the 50-50 raffle and the live auction items brought in over $11,000. The guitar with patriotic, military skin alone brought in $2,000.

While other groups initiated steps towards a veterans’ memorial in the county seat in the past, they failed to bring any project past the point of “pies in the sky.” Since May 2021, Wallum and the other members of the project committee work hard at procuring the necessary funding through grants and donations, and keeping the construction going.

The project’s contractor Clint Will Banks of C&C Specialty Construction works on the project in his spare time, with volunteers, but also some paid workers. The light limestone wall is 50 percent complete, the letters ready to place. The center piece will hold a relief image of the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima, the ultimate symbol of freedom winning over oppression. The photograph – one of the most recognizable images of WWII – was the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, VA dedicated in 1954 to honor all U.S. Marines who died in service since 1775.

The project estimated at $150,000, is funded through the sale of engraved pavers and fundraisers like the one in Walnut Springs. Pavers can be purchased online through http://www.briksrus.com/donorsite/bcvm. Bricks range from $100-500 depending on the size and information on the brick. The six monuments of the military branches – made in Pearland, Tx by RMB Monuments – alone cost a total of $49,000, of which $29,000 in funds has been secured.

The monuments are ready to be delivered and installed as soon as the other work is completed, which included laying of memorial bricks and pavers and blank bricks.

While it rested in her heart a long time, the veterans’ memorials in Whitney and Cranfills Gap motivated her all the more to step outside of her comfort zone and start up the project. And that was no easy task, because the gateway to Meridian is under Texas Department of Transportation jurisdiction. And dealing with governmental agencies can be tricky and time consuming. With some restrictions, TxDot approved Wallum’s plan of columns with branch emblems, and a pavement of memorial bricks.

Most recently, TxDot approved four static displays, one of which will be an Army Jeep. To place the Jeep on a concrete slab, have it lighted and covered by a pavilion would add around $25,000 to the project – so the committee’s fundraising days are not yet over. And while there have been some delays beyond the committee’s control, Wallum sees the light at the end of the tunnel towards completion.

Christian Minister Joyce Meyer’s quote comes to mind regarding Wallum’s ongoing positivity, “Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.”

“This is all God’s timing,” Wallum said. “I just happened to be there at the right time, and got to speak to the right people. I’m absolutely blown away by the support and generosity we’ve received.”

The memorial is for anyone that wants to honor a loved one in the military, whether they are active, retired, disabled or deceased from anywhere, not just Bosque County residents. And through her efforts the monument will be another way in which Bosque County honors and shows their gratitude to their military veterans who fought for the nation’s freedoms.