Stecoah – Ladies for Liberty, a singing group specializing in nostalgic and patriotic tunes, visited the Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center on Sunday at the behest of Mel Greene, past president of the 82nd Airborne Division.
Greene and fellow veteran Bill Smith are the driving forces behind the center’s plan to build a veterans’ memorial on the Stecoah campus.
Beth Fields, director of the center, said that her organization “wants to build a veterans’ memorial honoring all five branches of the military. The cost looks to be around $35,000, and we are up to around $6,000 in donations at this point.”
“I wanted to see a memorial come here, so Bill Smith and myself donated the seed money,” Greene said, still a bit out of breath from joining the singing group onstage during their first set, which featured popular songs of the WWII era. “I brought these girls down here from Louisville (Ky.) to help with the fundraiser. They are just a wonderful group of ladies, and so talented.”
The ladies themselves, decked out in tailored costumes featuring genuine WWII buttons, praised both the Stecoah Center and Greene himself.
“We just love performing on that stage from the 1920s,” said Ladies for Liberty owner Wanda R. Martin. “We love to celebrate the military, and performing in such a historic place in front of a crowd of veterans makes it even more meaningful to us.”
After bringing some in the crowd to tears with their first set, the singing group took the stage for a second time, this one focused on 1950’s popular music as well as a number of patriotic tunes. At the show’s end, the crowd gave the women a standing ovation which lasted until they left the stage.
Fields said that fundraising for the memorial has really just begun.
Those interested in making donations can contact the center at 479-3364.