Baldwin County dedicated its first “Blue Star Memorial Highway” marker over the weekend in a ceremony designed to put children face to face with the veterans the honor recognizes. The event, held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Daphne, gave school-age children a direct role in the tribute rather than treating them as spectators.
Organizers handed out ribbons for children to inscribe with a veteran’s name, then asked them to come forward and place those ribbons on a special photograph displayed during the ceremony. Afterward, children were encouraged to meet and take photos with veterans in attendance during a reception.
“It’s to make the young people aware of what veterans have done for this country,” said Dr. Barry Booth, an Eastern Shore dentist who spearheaded Honor Flight South Alabama, a program that flew veterans to visit military memorials in Washington, D.C., from 2007 through 2013. Booth said organizers distributed roughly 2,000 flyers to area schools urging parents to bring their children to Saturday’s dedication.
Two World War II veterans who had previously taken part in Honor Flight trips attended the ceremony: U.S. Army Sgt. James Nickerson, 97, who survived the Allied invasion of Utah Beach on D-Day, and U.S. Army Maj. Jack Jacobson, 104, who took part in the invasion of Normandy. “It’s a significant event, and a historic one for us,” Booth said.
The new designation comes with a bronze plaque similar to those seen along roadways, parks, gardens and cemeteries across the country as part of the national Blue Star Memorial Highway system. The National Garden Clubs, Inc. launched the program in 1945 to honor members of the Armed Forces during World War II, taking its name from the blue star that families once displayed in home and business windows to signify a loved one serving in the military.
Blue Star Memorial Markers Chairwoman Andrea Little attended to formally dedicate the marker. The Garden Club of Montrose, which has long focused on preserving oak trees in the historic community south of Daphne, led the local push to secure the designation for the Eastern Shore. The signs are set to be installed at the Montrose-Daphne boundary along Scenic Highway 98 to the north and near St. James Episcopal Church in Fairhope to the south, with installation expected shortly after the dedication ceremony.
The Baldwin County Commission approved a resolution late last year clearing the way for the markers, though the effort’s funding came entirely through private fundraising rather than county money. For organizers, the designation offers a lasting, physical reminder along one of the Eastern Shore’s most traveled roads of the veterans who served, tying a national commemorative program to a specific stretch of Baldwin County road for the first time.