A longtime community project culminated in a true community event when the Nephi Lions Club held a dedication ceremony for the Juab County Veterans Memorial on Thursday night, the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

With the road blocked off, approximately 400 Boy Scouts, families and veterans were greeted by the Brass Quintet 23rd Army Band playing lively tunes at the site of the memorial, just off Main Street by the city building.

Boy Scouts lined the street with flags, the coach sent the high school football team to set up the chairs, and there was just enough of a breeze to unfurl the colors raised by the American Legion Post No. 1 of Nephi.

The monument holds the names of approximately 2,400 soldiers, and a special ceremony honored those Juab County soldiers who were killed in action: A bell was rung as each name was called. Robert L. Painter, president of the Nephi Lions Club, said with all the donations of money and time, he was grateful the group was able to take on this project.

"It was a labor of love working here," Painter said. "This is as beautiful a setting as we could find."

The Lions Club involved members of the community to help with the project. Juab High School art teacher Christy Carter designed the memorial, Wyatt Ingram created a 3-D model of the memorial as a Sterling Scholar project, and local companies donated labor and supplies to construct the memorial -- electricians, masons, landscapers and others.

"Numerous craftsmen from our community provided assistance," said Donald J. Eyre Jr., a member of the Lions Club who gave a history of the project at the ceremony.

The project started with an idea about five years, and the last piece of sod was laid on Monday. Three years of fundraising included presenting to the Utah State Legislature and town mayors and city councils, holding chuck wagon breakfasts and quilt raffles, as well as selling benches and pavers used in the monument. A new shipment of pavers is expected in a few months. Adjutant General Brian Tarbet of the Utah National Guard spoke at the ceremony, saying that the memorial was a true American project.

"I'll never come by I-15 again and not duck by and visit this spot," Tarbet said.

On the seventh anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, Tarbet said the day comes and goes because we are being protected by both people who wear the uniform, and those who don't.

"These freedoms are indeed under attack," Tarbet said. He referenced Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which encouraged people to remember.

"That's what this place facilitates: thinking, remembering," Tarbet said.

"My soldiers and airmen are gone for up to 12 months," Tarbet said. "They have set aside their dreams, to see their children grow, live in their communities, pursue their church work," and this memorial honors them. With musical numbers from the Juab High School Choir and others, a rifle salute by the American Legion Post No. 1, and a solo trumpeter playing "Taps," the program highlighted the county's veterans, both living and dead.

The Brass Quintet, 23rd Army Band played lively renditions of the service songs of the five branches of the military, and veterans in the audience stood as their branch was recognized.

The program also recognized State Sen. Darin Peterson and Rep. Pat Painter, both R-Nephi, and the Juab County Commissioners, who raised flags for the state of Utah and Juab County, respectively.

The memorial sits next to the Memorial Rose Garden, planted to honor World War II fallen heroes. Arbors link the two pieces of land; the new memorial fills an empty lot that used to be filled with weeds and scrub trees.

"We hope that through this program, you'll feel good about your country, good about your military, and good about your community here in Nephi," Eyre said.