Celebrating memorial's new day

The restored memorial will serve as a gateway into Smoky Hollow.
By JOHN SKENDALL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It all started with a short letter to the editor in The Vindicator.
A community member said something should be done to fix up Smoky Hollow's memorial to 12 soldiers.
Thanks to Russell Reuthe of Austintown, the Streetscape organization and several locals, this wish has been granted.
The rededication ceremony for the rejuvenated memorial, a sacred place for World War II and Korean War soldiers' relatives, will be at 11 a.m. Monday after the United Veterans Association parade.
Golden Eagle Club of Smoky Hollow, the veterans organization that maintains the memorial, will hold a service after the dedication for the monument.
"To see the joy in the old members ... to see tears flow, that's when you know you've done something good," Reuthe said.
Getting help
Reuthe, who served in the Army and Air Force Reserves from 1977 to 1994, answered the letter written five years ago by recruiting friends, family and co-workers to help maintain the site.
When an article was published last July about Reuthe's desire to replace the badly damaged flagpole, yet another wish was answered -- this time by Scott Schulick.
Schulick is chairman of the volunteer downtown beautification group called Streetscape that has invested $12,000 to replace grass with paving stones, plant trees and shrubbery, lay new sod, replace brickwork and install a vinyl, wrought-iron looking fence around the memorial.
Schulick is a trust investment officer at Butler Wick Trust Co.
He said the restored memorial will serve as a gateway into Smoky Hollow. Smoky Hollow is bordered by Wick, Rayen and Andrews avenues and the Madison Avenue Expressway.
It revitalizes an area that needed a little improvement," Schulick said.
The new flagpole, originally the only item Reuthe hoped to replace, will come in phase two of the renovation, along with installment of the vinyl fence, benches and a gazebo, Reuthe said. The project will be completed by Veterans Day, he said.
Contributions
Donors from across the country have contributed to Reuthe's efforts, totaling $900.
Reuthe said 20 people have helped him throughout the project.
Richard Coles of Girard donated four trees.
Ohio Edison saw to the scraping and repainting of the flagpole. The power company also made up a contract for lighting the memorial. American Legion Post 301 Austintown Memorial has agreed to pay the four-year lighting contract.
"It's amazing how this all started with a letter to The Vindicator five years ago," Reuthe said.
John Mascardine, president of the Golden Eagle Club, said Smoky Hollow was once a melting pot where "everybody was helping everybody."
Fixing up this memorial, he said, is a reminder of that time, he noted. "When they go by, they can see that someone still cares."