A story he read inspired this young man to get involved in a big way.

A story he read inspired this young man to get involved in a big way.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

SEBRING — Colton Lockner may be only 10, but he gets a lot of recognition when he walks down the street.

It seems everyone in town knows the son of Robyn and Gary Lockner as the guy who organized last year’s Freedom Walk that drew some 2,000 participants, said his mother.

He was just 9 and in the fourth grade at B.L. Miller Elementary School when he read about the America Supports You Freedom Walk created by employees of the U.S. Department of Defense in 2005 to honor those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and to recognize veterans, both past and present.

Colton’s uncle, Brian Joseph of Middleburg Heights, was stationed in Iraq at the time with the 321st Psychology Unit of the U.S. Army Reserves, and the young man was anxious to see his uncle get home safely.

Colton approached school administrators and others with the idea of starting a Freedom Walk in Sebring, and, once he got support, he began organizing the effort, Robyn Lockner said.

Making the rounds

He went into every business in town seeking support and put up fliers asking people to participate in the Sept. 11 event. A couple of businesses picked up the tab for providing walkers with T-shirts marking the occasion.

He got enough money to also make a $400 donation to the Todd M. Beamer/Heroic Choices Program.

He secured the backing of then-U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland and state Sen. John Boccieri, as well as the local American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and others.

He even registered the walk with the Department of Defense, which helped with some organizational tasks, his mother said.

Colton and Boccieri led last year’s walk. His four brothers, Nick, Braxton, Dalton and Hughston, all took part as well.

His efforts haven’t gone unrecognized.

America Supports You has named him a Youth Ambassador and has conducted an interview with him that will run in an upcoming edition of the Weekly Reader.

He’s also getting recognized all over town, Robyn Lockner said, which helps as he gets ready for this year’s Freedom Walk.

It’s become a year-round project for him, his mother said, noting that he got his gifted class at school involved in the project in February. He got the Sebring High School National Honor Society to help put together a knit-cap-and-blanket drive to send those items to injured soldiers en route to a U.S. hospital in Germany.

The Sebring Lions Club and VFW helped him send 10 cases to the troops.

He also had his fourth-grade class write letters to a military unit stationed in Baghdad.

Keeping him busy

For now, Colton is hard at work organizing this year’s Sept. 11 walk.

He’s sent letters to area businesses and others announcing the event and hopes to draw about 4,000 people.

He’s again looking for sponsors to help buy T-shirts for the walkers and to pay for musical entertainment at the end of the event, which will begin at 6 p.m. at B.L. Miller Elementary School and cover a 1.3-mile course ending at Veterans’ Memorial at South Side Park.

He and his brothers walked in a recent parade handing out fliers advertising the walk and soliciting participants.

He also came up with an idea for a motorcycle poker run to help raise funds. It will take place Aug. 26, starting at the Sebring VFW and follow a course through Mahoning, Columbiana, Portage and Stark counties, ending at Mango’s Club in Alliance. Some 200 riders are expected.

Robyn Lockner said she isn’t particularly surprised that her son came up with the idea for a local Freedom Walk.

“He’s always thinking outside the box. I am surprised at the support he gets. Everyone knows who he is,” she said.

His grandfathers, Gary Lockner Sr. of North Benton and Dennis Rasile of Sebring, are both military veterans.

His uncle, Brian Joseph, has been deployed to Iraq twice and Brian’s wife, Rachael, is in the same unit and will be deployed in January.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Freedom Walk project can send it to Colton Lockner at 120 E. Carolina Ave., Sebring, Ohio 44672.

gwin@vindy.com