Thursday, January 16, 2025
The City of Gatesville and Keep Gatesville Beautiful (KGB) dedicated the Highway 36 Monument on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
After the City of Gatesville was presented with the Governor’s Community Achievement Award in May of 2021, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) awarded a grant for the construction of the monument at no cost to the city.
The award was based on the City of Gatesville and Keep Gatesville Beautiful’s efforts in recycling, litter prevention, and beautification.
The dedication’s welcome speech was given by City Manager Brad Hunt.
Hunt expressed that the city and Keep Gatesville Beautiful plans to add a welcome message to the walls of the monument and a statue displayed in the center.
Mayor Gary Chumley gave the invocation and was also the program speaker for the ceremony. During his speech, he expressed why he made Gatesville his home.
“I didn’t know at the time, but it’s people like you, your giving spirits and volunteerism, what you do for others and the community,” he said.
Former City Manager Bill Parry and his wife, Stacy, attended the dedication ceremony as well to give a recognition of achievement speech.
During Parry’s speech, he said, “This is really a monumental day in effort in the life of Gatesville.”
“Very early on in my tenure, Joe Campbell started coming up to me and Cheri about the possibility of creating a Keep Gatesville Beautiful chapter,” he said. “I said I am all for this, but this can’t be city run up, this has to be a community effort, and the community needs to be able to take this one on.”
He expressed that shortly after, the Keep Gatesville Chapter was created.
“It was a whole lot of people who really made this come together,” he said. “To all of you (who) had a part in any of this, even a small part, thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I am glad to see it coming from you.”
Hunt gave a closing speech and expressed that the monument is a testament to the community.
“What it looks like, how it is designed, and where it is, is just a public display of what Gatesville is,” he said.
At the end of the dedication, the community gathered for an unveiling of a plaque, which was done by Former Visitors Bureau Director of the City of Gatesville and the Liaison of KGB, Cheri Shepherd, Vice President of KGB, Leo Corona, and Joe Campbell. Corona stepped in for KGB President, Dusti Morgan, who was unable to attend the ceremony.
The monument is located on Highway 36 across from Walgreens.
