First CCC statue dedicated in Iowa at Lacey state park

KEOSAUQUA ? A dream of Sharon Ewing and Dick and Gloria Breckenridge was fulfilled Saturday, as a Civilian Conservation Corps statue and a renovated gate house were dedicated at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park.

More than 300 individuals gathered for the event, sponsored by Friends of Lacey, the Iowa Hawkeye Chapter of the CCC Corps Legacy and Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Dignitaries from as far away as Virginia and at least eight CCC ?boys? were present.

The Friends of Lacey, with assistance from the DNR, put a statue near the park?s west entrance and renovated the gate house into an interpretive CCC museum.

It was the first CCC statue dedicated in Iowa.

Ewing?s father and Gloria Breckenridge?s father both worked at the CCC camp based at Lacey-Keosauqua.

The Civilian Conservation Corps was a brain-child of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to put hundreds of thousands of unemployed young men to work during the Great Depression of the 1930s and early 1940s. The CCC was one of the most successful government programs that FDR put in place then and one with the biggest legacy.

More than two dozen structures were built by the CCC ?boys? at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park and Shimek Forest.

?Seventy-seven years ago, the boys started to build this park, one rock at a time,? said Ewing. ?They built the lake, trails, park ranger home, the lodge and of course you don?t want to miss the 110 steps they built down to the lake from the Bath House.?

Her father, Hubert Jones, was a 17-year old who moved from St. Louis to Keosauqua and joined the CCC camp here.

Ewing said she wanted to do something to memorialize the work done by ?my boys? and found out that there was a national CCC Legacy group that was involved with putting up statues all over the U.S.

She saw a Web site from the U.S. CCC Legacy Organization and there the bronze life-sized image of a CCC worker was displayed.

?Iowa was one of 16 states that didn?t have a statue. My first response was ?why?? My second was one of anger, why didn?t the boys have a statue?? Ewing recalled.

In 2008, she contacted the DNR, which referred her to Friends of Lacey. The local friends organization helped her form the Hawkeye Legacy chapter for the state of Iowa.

?There was never a question where Iowa?s first statue would be placed,? she said.

That?s when Dick Breckenridge came in. The bronze statue would cost approximately $19,871 and, with renovations to the gate house, at least $50,000 was needed. He helped spearhead a fundraising drive to raise that amount.

Breckenridge received donations from Community First Bank, Barker Specialty Products, Van Buren Telephone, Gene and Judy Snyder, as well as grants from the Van Buren Foundation, Community Foundation of Van Buren County and Hoaglin Foundation and other donors. In all, Friends of Lacey raised $50,000 in a short time, largely due to the efforts of Breckenridge.

Gloria Breckenridge?s father Eugene Hannam was a cook at the CCC camp that was at the site where the Keosauqua Lions and American Legion have their building on Keosauqua?s northwest side. Hannam met LaVon and they eventually married and raised their family here.

Dick Breckenridge was one of the speakers at the dedication.

?The statue and gate house project were built to reflect for the CCC boys to reflect on the CCC experience. This park is a testament to their work. I say to you, job well done,? Breckenridge said.

?The CCC boys came to build a park. Many stayed to build a life,? he said.

Ewing told those gathered that ?when you touch the hands of a CCC boy, you touch America.?

For the complete article and photos, see the Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010, printed edition of The Fairfield Ledger.