SHENANDOAH, Iowa – A new memorial honoring Veterans from Page County, Iowa, will be dedicated during a 10 a.m. ceremony at Rapp Park Recreation Area in Shenandoah, Iowa, on June 15th, 2024. The public is invited to attend the free event. The memorial is located at 1769 State Highway 48 – Rapp Park & Recreation Area, in Shenandoah. The Veteran Memorial Rock is located at the West end of the park between the campground and the lake.

The memorial consists of a large Veteran rock with an inscribed plaque, new flag poles and several benches constructed by local community school students. The Page County Veterans Memorial at Rapp Park Committee is hosting the ceremony. The memorial’s genesis occurred at the Shenandoah VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in 2023 when Kala Varellas, a VA Whole Health coach, hosted a discussion with a local Veteran about his desire to see a memorial honoring local area Veterans. Following the discussion, Varellas met with several community members, including the then director of Page County Conservation — who is also a Veteran — who decided to pursue having a Veteran rock placed at the park. He said they “just kind of ran with it.”

The initial idea soon developed into a larger community project with numerous individuals and organizations donating their time and resources to the final design and installation of the memorial. Varellas said this included Schildberg Construction – Braddyville Iowa Quarry, which offered a discount on the rock; Wallick Family Trucking, which donated the delivery of the rock; and Benefiel Towing, which donated the unloading of the truck and the movement of the rock to its current location.

Other donors included the Essex and Shenandoah High School shop classes, which built the benches; Twin Oaks Landscaping, which donated three trees and hours of landscaping maintenance work; Page County Conservation, which donated money for the purchase of the rock, a flag, flagpole, and accompanying plaque; and a local area Veteran who donated money for the purchase of two flags and flagpoles.