Colfax American Legion to unveil mural tribute to service men, women

This Veterans Day, Colfax American Legion Post 192 will unveil the Service Mural Wall at the Colfax Veterans Memorial Hall. Ric Tetrault, commander for American Legion Post 192 and president of the hall board, saw the need to put something on the wall at the hall's main entrance and broached the subject at a board meeting. To his surprise, another board member advised a project of that nature had already been approved two years prior. That same night, Tetrault said he went home and created submittals for the city of Colfax and Placer County for the project's approval. After receiving the green light from the entities, the search for artists began at the Art Walk and Cruise Night held the third Thursday of the month from June to September in downtown historic Colfax. According to Tetrault, it only took one flyer getting into the hands of Foxey McCleary, a local artist. McCleary then summoned other artists she works with to volunteer to complete the mural, sometimes working at night with headlamps to avoid peak temperatures. "We were really lucky to have them there to be able to do that," Tetrault said. The Service Mural Wall consists of seven murals, with six representing each military branch, and service seals have been mounted on their respective murals. "The mural wall is dedicated to the men and women who wore the uniform," Tetrault said. The last mural, "Night Watch," is in the stairwell and features a World War I soldier carrying a lantern. Tetrault describes the last mural as contrast to the other six, as "Today's soldiers are keeping the flame alive." Tetrault said initially the goal was to finish the mural by Nov. 22 for the American Legion district meeting but was instead completed in time for Veterans Day. "I think this really steps it up a little bit for us," Tetrault said. "It really shows we're really dedicated to veterans and their families. We're a unit, we're one. This is who we are, this is what we do." A barbecue lunch will be held at 1 p.m. at the Colfax Veterans Memorial Hall, 22 Sunset Circle, and donations are welcome. A ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony will begin at 2, to include the Pledge of Allegiance, presentation of colors, music, a thanks to the artists and speeches by Tetrault and Colfax Mayor Sean Lomen. Sponsors of the wall are the Colfax American Legion Post 192, Colfax Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2003 and Colfax Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Post 2003. Mural artists are Bronwyn Arcand, Judy Cochran, Jamie Edson, Kathleen Kiefer, Foxey McCleary, Glenn Ridge and Katharine Tetrault.