LAFFERTY — A new Lafferty Veterans Memorial was unveiled on Veterans Day Monday to honor veterans past and present.

The memorial is the brainchild of Union Local student and Boy Scouts of America Troop 59 member Jonathan Dubiel. He completed the project in hopes of becoming an Eagle Scout.

Dubiel, a 17-year-old high school senior, has been a member of the Boy Scouts of America since the third grade and of Troop 59 since the sixth grade. Through several fundraising events, Dubiel was able to raise the nearly $40,000 it took to erect the memorial.

Lafferty residents John and Kim Kelly donated the land where the memorial sits. Their son, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Capt. Colin Kelly, gave credit to many for the effort.

“There were a countless number of people in this community that made this happen, which should be inspiring for all of us because it really does take a village,” he said. “We all galvanized around JT’s (Dubiel’s) leadership.

The village once had a veterans memorial that was destroyed roughly 60 years ago. The Kellys began kicking around the idea of rebuilding a monument back in 2015 but said that fundraising quickly became too difficult due to a lack of interest. Colin said another hurdle the family had in rebuilding the memorial was that he was on active duty during the bulk of the fundraising initiative.

“It wasn’t until 2022 that JT said, ‘You know what? I’m going to make that happen.’ And he did,” Colin said.

“You put it together, and every time you drive past here or hear people talking about it you can reflect on that and say, ‘I did that,” he told Dubiel.

He continued to praise Dubiel, adding that raising $38,000 for the statue is an incredible accomplishment.

“And now I want to give thanks to the group of people who represent why we are all here,” Colin said. “I want to thank every veteran that is here in the audience for your service, your selfless dedication to country, and for putting other people above yourself. So thank you.”

Colin ended his speech by saying that he is incredibly proud to have grown up in the village of Lafferty.

“From personal experience, I was shocked that everybody around the world was not nearly as nice or courteous or had such a strong sense of community as the town of Lafferty, and I am incredibly proud to have grown up here,” he said. “I think that we truly stand on the shoulders of giants. And as members of this community, when you come here and look at these stones and the names that are on them, you think of two things.

“One, you think of connection. These are real people, people that you know, people that may not be here any longer. And the second thing is gratitude, gratitude that we are able to grow up in a place like Lafferty, in a place like Belmont County, a place like Ohio, and a place like the United States of America.”

Dubiel then spoke, saying that he would like to thank his entire family for their continuous support throughout the entirety of his project. He then thanked the village of Lafferty, the Flushing Volunteer Fire Department and the Lafferty Moose Lodge for allowing him to host chicken dinner events that vastly contributed to his end goal and allowed him to secure the funds needed to complete the monument.

“I’d like to thank the veterans present, past and future for serving this country and protecting the freedom that we have,” Dubiel said.

Lastly, John Kelly addressed the crowd. He started by telling a story about how he first became aware of the original Lafferty Veterans Memorial. He said that in 2015, he donated the land where the memorial now sits because he believed it would be the perfect place for it since the parcel previously was owned by Pearl Harbor survivor Edward “Ski” Szwab. He added that he struggled securing funding for the memorial, which left the project in limbo for almost a decade.

“In 2020 when JT came to me and said, ‘Hey, we want to get this off the ground. We know that you put the land aside,’ and my initial reaction was, ‘Oh thank God,'” John Kelly said. “And I thought that it might take a few years, but within a year they had most of the money raised. I really kind of learned a lesson in that I’ve always kind of done things alone, but when it comes to something like this you do need a community, and it was so endearing to see this come together through the fundraising and everybody donating. It gave me such a heartfelt feeling.”

The ceremony ended with Boy Scouts of America Troop 59 raising the flags while unveiling the memorial. After the closure of the event, the Dubiel family treated attendees to light refreshments. Dubiel commissioned the memorial through Justin Gallagher from Randall L. Gallagher Memorials Inc. The Lafferty Veterans Memorial is at 43045 Harrah St. in Lafferty.