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Student creating a legacy of honoring veterans at Fitch
By Billy Ludt
AUSTINTOWN
Six flagpoles stand outside of the main entrance of Austintown Fitch High School. At the foot of each 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 it was 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 about 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 in Fitch dedicated to cleaning and maintaining Austintown schools’ memorials.
Welch said the club’s goal is to “bring awareness about veterans, and really, just American pride in the school.”
The club will oversee maintaining Veterans Memorial, the Class of 1962 memorial on Greenwood Falcon Stadium and a cabinet just inside Fitch’s main entrance. Currently the club will clean campus monuments once a month, cleaning dates falling closer to relevant holidays.
While this is Welch’s final school year at Fitch, he said he wants to ensure that these monuments on campus are maintained once he leaves.
Extracurricular activities “can be stressful at times, but the more you do and the more you make it fit into your calendar, the more prepared for life you are,” he said.
As the holiday season approaches, Welch said he plans to have the group work with big-box stores to collect money for the club to assist veterans.
Laini Simons, a member of the club, said she joined because she feels there isn’t enough recognition or assistance for veterans.
On Patriots Day, Welch received the Veterans Award for 2017 Citizen of the Year. Area veterans organizations give out the award every year at Austintown’s Patriots Day celebration.
“I find it really important to get involved, especially in Fitch, because it has a really good family atmosphere,” Welch said. “The administration really makes it feel that way for the students.”
He plans to pursue a degree in political science at Hillsdale College in Michigan.