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City of Elma rededicates plaque honoring WWI soldiers and sailors

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, April 7, 2026

By Andrea Watts The Daily World

Andrea Watts / The Daily World During its city council meeting on April 6, the city of Elma held a rededication of a plaque honoring WWI soldiers and sailors. Tyler Marriott (pictured fourth from left in the back), the judge advocate for Post 1948 and past state commander, restored the plaque. In attendance for the rededication were VFW and Rolling Thunder members.

Andrea Watts / The Daily World

During its city council meeting on April 6, the city of Elma held a rededication of a plaque honoring WWI soldiers and sailors. Tyler Marriott (pictured fourth from left in the back), the judge advocate for Post 1948 and past state commander, restored the plaque. In attendance for the rededication were VFW and Rolling Thunder members.

Following the call to order of the Elma City Council meeting on Monday, April 6, the first item on the agenda was the rededication of a plaque honoring soldiers and sailors who served in World War I.

The plaque sits at the base of the flagpole in front of the city hall, and Mayor Josh Collette shared with the council that he had noticed that the plaque needed some attention due to its being exposed to the weather.

Collette approached Tyler Marriott, the judge advocate for VFW Post 1948 and past state commander, to see if the VFW could help, and Marriott agreed to take on the restoration project. Restoring the plaque required painstakingly sandblasting and painting.

“I appreciate the work you did on it, because yes, there’s a lot of detail in there, and if you don’t have the right person working on it, it could end up looking worse than what it did before,” said Collette.

The council took a brief recess to step outside, and Collette reattached the plaque to the flagpole’s base. Also in attendance were members of VFW Post 1948 and Rolling Thunder.

Marriott is unsure when the plaque was installed, figuring it was in the ’20s or ’30s. The reason Collette selected April 6 as the rededication date is because it was the 109th anniversary of the United States entering World War I.

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