By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Pemberville loves its hometown heroes. That love is displayed on signs in a field of heroes —336 to be exact.
For Memorial Day week, Pemberville’s Hometown Heroes Memorial Walk transformed a quiet stretch of Memorial Park next to the Pemberville Freedom American Legion Hall into a moving landscape of honor. The hundreds of signs tell stories of service, dedication and support.
The massive recognition of veterans, current military members and first responders, on display through Saturday (May 31), is part of Pemberville’s celebration of the village’s 150th birthday and the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The heroes depicted and honored are fathers, mothers, sons and daughters; cousins, aunts and uncles; friends and neighbors, each whose family members wanted to include them in the town’s tribute.
Most, but not all, are connected to Pemberville and the surrounding area in some way, said Sandy Leuck, a member of Pemberville’s 150th Anniversary Committee. She was also the inspiration behind the weeklong event.
She was involved when the Bowling Green Community Foundation and the City of Bowling Green planned and displayed Hometown Heroes Banners that started in 2024. More than 200 veterans and service members were featured on banners that were hung on light poles throughout Bowling Green.
“I just thought it was a wonderful project and honored so many people. I felt so good doing it that I thought, ‘I need to do that for Pemberville,’” she said.
With only 12 poles in the village that can hold banners, she knew the pole banners “weren’t going to work,” she admitted. However, scrolling through social media, she saw a photo of an event where hometown heroes’ signs were perfectly lined up with space for visitors to walk through and see the photos and read their accomplishments up close.
Leuck’s vision was simple but meaningful: create a space where veterans, active-duty military members and first responders could be recognized not just as names, but as neighbors, friends and family. That vision resonated deeply.
After she shared the idea at a committee meeting last fall, the four organizations involved—Pemberville Independent Merchants Association, Pemberville Fair, Pemberville-Freedom Historical Society, and the Pemberville Freedom American Legion Auxiliary—liked the idea and said, “Go for it!”
The plans started out “really small. I’ll be happy with 100 people,” she thought to herself. “Then it got to be 150 people, and then 200, 250 and 300. We ended up with 336.”
There might have been more because people kept inquiring after the deadline, but there needed to be a cutoff to get the 18” x 24” signs printed with the honorees’ photos, names, and service listed. She also needed to purchase flags, red, white, and blue flowers and solar lights to complete the display
The results blossomed into a visibly powerful tribute rooted in community pride, remembrance and gratitude. The nighttime experience, with the solar candles lighting each marker, creates a peaceful and reflective setting for visitors walking among the tributes, Leuck said.
Some of the heroes grew up and lived nearby their whole life, like Doug Wegman, the Henline brothers (Lloyd, Luther, Paul and Kenneth), and Tom, Theodore and Elizabeth Bowlus.
Others moved out of the area and state but stayed connected to the community where life started. And because “a soldier is a soldier,” Leuck said the project was open to anyone who wanted to pay tribute to a loved one.
Luckey area resident John Selzer decided to honor his brother, James R. Selzer. Though James never lived in Wood County, John heard about the plan through the Pemberville Library’s history librarian. He decided it would be a nice tribute to his brother, who served as a U.S. Army Specialist 4th Class in 1970-72 and in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1972-76.
“It seemed like a nice idea, and the cost was minimal, so I went through my old photos until I found a suitable photo,” he said.
His brother died in March of 1985, a few months before John moved to Ohio. But when he picks up the signage and decorations on Sunday, he plans to check with his brother’s adult children to see if they would like the mementos honoring their father, John said.
Though Leuck was the point person for the project, she is quick to point out that the community stepped up to assist. In addition to family members who wanted to honor their loved ones, an entire army of volunteers poured their support and time into making the first-time powerful tribute a reality.
In typical Pemberville style, there was an outpouring of local support. Volunteers worked tirelessly to collect names, photos and service histories. Families submitted loved ones’ information with pride. Local supporters helped assemble, install and maintain the display.
The weather for the planned set-up day looked challenging at best, so Leuck put out a call for volunteers to help a couple of days earlier. She was not disappointed.
“It was just amazing how they all came out and worked so well together on a cold and windy, but not rainy, day. I had one guy who was over 90 years old helping,” she said.
The Hometown Heroes Memorial Walk is free and open through Saturday night. Visitors are encouraged to walk through the field and reflect on the significance of these heroes’ service to the community and the country. On Sunday at noon, once the memorial walk is over, the individuals who submitted the names will be able to pick up the sign, flag, flowers and light of their honorees.
“The best part of this entire experience has been to see the community wrap their arms around it and to see the joy it brought to families,” Leuck said.
