Vietnam Memorial Wall replica coming to Mo Valley
The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall is shown in Excelsior Spring, Missouri, in this photo taken from Facebook. — Courtesy photo
By Andy Stine
astine@altoonamirror.com
The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall measures six feet tall and nearly 300 feet long. While the regular Vietnam Memorial Wall resides in Washington, D.C., the traveling wall was made for those who can’t physically make the trip to Washington to pay respects.
The traveling wall will be making an appearance at the Moshannon Valley School District as part of its Veterans Day celebration from Nov. 5-9.
The wall coming to the small school in Houtzdale was largely made possible from the effort of Laura Mihalko, the school district’s librarian, who also plans family engagement events for the district.
“It is so exciting that this event is finally coming to fruition and quickly approaching,” Mihalko said.
Brandy O’Hare, superintendent of Moshannon Valley, said the planning of this event started well before she came to Mo Valley a year ago. Before her arrival, there was a 20-page application for the school to host the wall.
“There’s a lot of responsibility with hosting it,” O’Hare said. “I believe we’re the only school district in all of Pennsylvania to host it.”
Part of those responsibilities is being able to guard the wall around the clock 24 hours a day for the five days it will be at Mo Valley. There’s also parameters on how to install the wall in its arrival, which involved the school’s facilities director and maintenance crew.
“It is a school-wide project to be able to host it,” O’Hare said.
The wall will also be escorted through the town of Houtzdale from St. Barbara’s National Polish Catholic Church on Emery Street to the school on the first day by local police, fire companies, and military organizations.
The wall will be set up inside CNB Bank Stadium in order to be ADA compliant. On the first day, the wall will be open to Moshannon Valley students and other students from local districts from until 2:30 p.m. It will then be open to the public until 6 p.m. It will also be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 6-8 before coming down on Nov. 9 at 9 a.m.
O’Hare is hoping that by bringing the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall to Moshannon Valley that it will not only be a family engagement activity, but also for the community.
“It takes a rural school district in Clearfield County and it puts us on the map to be able to host something that we’ve never done before, and I don’t think any other district has around here,” O’Hare said. “It shines a light on our community, and I would say how proud we are for a very small school district and a small community. There’s a lot of pride in our veterans and our military, and we really make an effort to teach our kids about history.”