Fitch senior forms club to maintain veterans memorials

AUSTINTOWN

Six flagpoles stand outside the main entrance of Fitch High School, ringing the stars and stripes. At the foot of each flagpole is the steel silhouette of a person serving in each branch of the U.S. military, and above them flies their respective flag.

This sextet of poles, named Austintown Veterans Memorial, is a monument designed by Fitch senior Seth Welch, and built by him and community members in 2015.

Welch said the design idea came from visiting area veterans memorials, and he felt there wasn’t a significant one around Fitch.

Five of the flags represent the five branches of American military service, and the sixth flies for the township’s fire and police departments. At the base of each flag is a stone insignia from each branch.

Planning for the monument took about a year, and construction took around two months. It was completed at 6:30 a.m. on Veterans Day that year.

“I drew up some ideas, and that design fit everything I was thinking about,” he said.

Two years after constructing the monument, Welch’s veteran outreach hasn’t stopped. His involvement with Eagle Scout Troop 115 has entailed just that.

But Welch’s latest endeavor is the founding of a newly formed club at Fitch dedicated to cleaning and maintaining Austintown schools’ memorials.

Read more about it in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.