On Sunday, as the Wisconsin Garden Club Federation dedicated the Blue Star and Gold Star Memorial Markers at the Beloit Welcome Center rest stop, one Sun Prairie woman saw her efforts realized.
Linda McCafferty served as the states Garden Club Federations president from 2023-25, and her project involved working with the Department of Transportation to see the veterans markers installed.
Each WGCF president selects a project for their term; McCaffertys was to raise funds for a Blue Star Memorial Marker and a Gold Star Families Memorial Marker.
On Flag Day June 14, McCaffertys project was officially dedicated, with the markers installed at the south entrance of Rock County Welcome Center 22 located on I-39 Northbound/I90 Westbound entering Wisconsin from Illinois.
WGCF president from 2023-25, McCafferty said the Blue Star program honors all men and women who serve in the United States Armed Forces. It began with the planting of dogwood trees by the New Jersey Council of Garden Clubs as a living memorial to World War I veterans.
A Blue Star Highway system has since been created across the United States that includes I90 with Blue Star memorial highway marks along the way. The Blue Star was an icon during WWII, when a service flag with the Blue Star represented each living member who served in the armed forces. Those flags were and still are hung in homes, churches and businesses, according to McCafferty.
McCafferty provided The Star with a description of Gold Star Families, noting the nonprofit was created to support individuals who have lost loved ones serving in U.S. Armed Forces.
Gold Star Families mission is to offer honor, hope and healing by coming together to remember fallen heroes, McCafferty said. The Gold Star service flag represents families of military casualties and was created during WWII by sewing a Gold Star over a Blue Star to indicate that their loved ones had died while deployed in service to the United States.
Several other memorials at the Beloit Welcome Center are dedicated to Wisconsin Veterans, and the Blue Star Memorial Marker will complement those. Also, the addition of a Gold Star Families marker acknowledges the families.
McCafferty noted this will fill a void as no memorials are dedicated to the families of veterans killed in wars.
In addition to the memorial markers, the Beloit Welcome Center includes a large prairie that supports pollinators.
This garden certainly conforms in part to WGCFs mission to share the love of gardening and environmental responsibilities, McCafferty said.
Members of American Legion Posts, the chair of the Blue Star and Gold Star Families Memorial Marker Committee, current Wisconsin Garden Club Federation President Joe Powelka, also of Sun Prairie, and Kristina Boardman, Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary, spoke at the dedication ceremony, also honoring Flag Day. A representative from Sen. Ron Johnsons office was also scheduled to attend.
McCafferty and her husband, Chuck McCafferty, are co-chairs of WGCFs Blue Star and Gold Star Families Memorial Markers Committee and have coordinated with other clubs on marker placements in Wisconsin. They also helped to install the Gold Star marker in the Gold Star Garden on Madisons Capitol Grounds which was dedicated in 2018.
