(Submitted by the Wood County Commissioners Office)
Students from Bowling Green Middle School and Otsego Junior High School recently held a Penny War to raise $2,022.39 for the Wood County Veterans Memorial project. Inspiration for the event came from an opinion article written by Joe Boyle last spring. Teachers Pat Carney from BGMS and Charlie Spencer from OJHS worked together to organize the event.
The rules of the Penny War were simple. Each school had two buckets in the cafeteria, one labeled BGMS, and the other OJHS. Pennies and paper money dropped into a bucket resulted in positive points for the school. Silver coins dropped into a bucket resulted in negative points.
The BGMS Builder’s Club (sponsored by the Bowling Green Kiwanis Club) helped with implementation of the Penny War. Club Advisor, Laura Johns, a BGMS teacher, helped to promote the friendly rivalry event at the school and organized many hours of counting change. In the end, the Bowling Green Middle School raised $1522.39, with the Otsego Junior High School collecting $500.
The existing Wood County Veterans Memorial was established on the southeast corner of the Courthouse lawn in 1950. Memorials for Korea and Vietnam were added, but time and weather have taken their toll and the site today is clearly in need of help to respectfully recognize the people who gave their lives.
Therefore, a group of Wood County veterans worked to design a new Veterans Memorial plaza that will recognize all county residents who died in the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War, and Afghanistan along with our Gold Star Families.
The $400,000 project will create an area that is accessible to people with disabilities, and is conducive to memorial services. Donations for the project can be made to the Bowling Green Community Foundation/Wood County Veterans Memorial, P.O. Box 1175, Bowling Green, OH 43402. Email Vmemorial@co.wood.oh.us
