I will lead off with some very good news concerning the 2024 memorial services. The candlelight vigil was the largest ever attended with an estimated gathering of greater than 400. The previous best-attended estimate was 325 in 2023. The Sunday Morning Service was estimated to be above 450. Your Foundation honored 118 names with 3 recognized as line-of-duty. The service dates next year are October 4th and 5th. The Candlelight Service will be on Saturday at 7:00 pm and Sunday Morning Service at 10:30 am. Reminder those who have passed in 2024 which we know of will be honored next year in 2025. Any names not previously honored in 2023 or 2022 that are brought to our attention will be included. Line-of-duty-death (LODD) names are honored regardless of the year they passed if not previously recognized. As of right now, we believe there could be 7 (or more) LODD names honored in 2025 provided their status is finalized by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and accepted by NFFF or Missouri Workers Comp. Right now, both are behind schedule in completing administrative determinations on several names. We stand with those families during this delayed review process.
If you were not able to attend either service, the programs for each can be found on our website at mofirememorial-museum.org. Once there, select the Memorial dropdown and then click on “Annual Services.” You can also order and pay for engraving which is in the memorial dropdown.
Engraving Deadline – July 1
Note: The cut-off date for all engraving (wall and bricks) prior to the 2025 services is July 1. We will advertise this in all possible ways, but we are also firm on the cutoff date in 2025. We made several exceptions this year because of late notices to families, old forms still circulating using our Shelbina PO Box, new website ordering options and a few other things since resolved. Again the deadline is July 1.
Both services were recorded, and the Sunday service was live-streamed. The plan is to continue to do so going forward. We have partnered with a new production company. We found ourselves scrambling to complete this portion of our services when Wild Story Productions indicated they would assist and then canceled on us just 4 days before our Saturday Candlelight Service. Thank you, Bise Photography from Holts Summit, for changing your family plans that weekend and coming to our rescue.
The 2024 memorial t-shirt was very successful this year having a combined pre-order and second printing sales of just over 300 shirts. We want to thank Operation BBQ Relief for offering the free Sunday lunch, but they were called to Florida for Hurricane Duty 10 days before the services. They very clearly indicated that it was a possibility when they made the offer nearly a year ago and we fully understand their call of duty to the Gulf Coast.
Now that we are post-services, the Foundation is taking on a detailed review of our current approach to all things both prior to and during the October services. The addition of more tasks within each service plus the larger attendance as seen from 2023 and 2024 requires more planning and more volunteers for Saturday and Sunday. If you have experienced something, seen something, or received word on something related to the two services that can be improved, please let us know ASAP. There is no belief within the Foundation Board that this is the best we can do and welcome opportunities to make improvements in the presentation of service recognition and formal honors. We are also looking for more assistance with the numerous tasks on Saturday and Sunday.
The two sidewalk projects which connected the future museum with the memorial were completed before our services. This provided a much-needed improvement in general access, the flow of foot traffic, and safety, especially at night.
A reminder that the Museum is now our permanent mailing address. Please disregard all mailing address information that is not: 5550 Dunn Drive, Kingdom City, MO 65262. If you need to send an email to the Foundation, please use info@mofirememorial-museum.org This is a shared platform for checking on messages, so please give it a few days to respond. If it is urgent, please call me at 314-709-0760.
Currently, we still have one open position on the Foundation Board. If you are interested in taking on additional work, 8-10 more meetings per year, and more hours of service, please contact FFAM President Jennings and have a conversation. The President of FFAM per By-Laws receives the names of those interested, completes the initial vetting for the position, and then makes a recommendation to the Foundation Board which we must review and accept, or not.
Thank you for your time and continued support of your memorial and future museum.
FFAM
