New plaque stone at Village Green

Sisters’ veterans group Band of Brothers had their work cut out for them when they readied a five-foot-by-four-foot boulder at Village Green Park for the installation of a 27-inch-by-27-inch granite face onto which brass plaques honoring deceased Sisters Country veterans will be memorialized.

The boulder is the third in a trio of large rocks at the park’s pavilion that bear the names of citizens who served. One boulder is full and the second has room for only seven more veterans —thus the third was necessary.

Hal Darcey, a Navy submariner veteran, aided by Lyle Musel, an Air Force air disaster rescue veteran, both from the Vietnam War era went through three diamond blades over a three-day period notching the boulder.

Darcey quipped, “This rock must be kryptonite.”

The granite is being donated and installed by Solid Rock Granite of Sisters.

“The goal is to have the boulder dedicated on Veterans Day, Friday, or soon thereafter,” Darcey said.

The pair cut a grid pattern, one inch by one inch, and then chipped out the small squares. Because the rock is rounded it took a bit of engineering to get an even plane. Darcey is a retired contractor with experience in tricky measurements. The notch is 1.375 inches deep.

The founding rock, donated by the Cyrus family from their property, bears the names of 140 veterans and the second, a 2,300 pounder installed in 2011, has 203 names of 210 possible. The new rock should accommodate another 70-80 names.

“Only a few spaces remain on the existing rocks and although we are not at war, our Sisters veterans are slowly dying off,” Darcey told The Nugget.

Village Green Park was constructed in 1983 and has been the venue for dozens of patriotic and Veterans Day celebrations.