MERCER Still time to buy bricks

The project was started as part of the county's bicentennial celebration last year.
MERCER, Pa. -- The Mercer County Historical Society has set a July 1 deadline for people who want to have a memorial brick placed in the Mercer County Courthouse Memorial and Honor Garden this summer.
There is still space available to memorialize a loved one or another person in the garden, which was built last year as part of the county's bicentennial celebration.
The garden is on the north side of the courthouse, on both sides of the north portico steps.
It features plants commonly used when the courthouse was built in the early 1900s and offers two areas where engraved, personalized bricks can be placed.
The bricks can have up to 17 characters per line and up to three lines of information on them.
The cost is $50 per brick purchased by individuals while businesses or organizations can get a brick for $100. The cost of the engraving on each brick is included in the purchase price.
The garden also has concrete walkways and will eventually have fountains.
Summer deadline: William Philson, executive director of the Mercer County Historical Society, said July 1 is the deadline for people who want bricks placed in the garden this summer. There will be another purchase period in the fall, he said.
"We're going to keep putting them down as long as people want to buy them," he said, adding the society hopes to hold a dedication service at least once a year marking the addition of memorial bricks to the garden.
There is room for 3,100 bricks but only a small portion of that space has been used so far.
Philson didn't know how many bricks have been placed in the garden.