Rippey to host Greene County Freedom Rock fundraiser Aug. 13

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Ray "Bubba" Sorenson's original 1999 Freedom Rock stands alongside Iowa Highway 25 near Menlo. Photo courtesy Laura Stebbins

All Greene County residents and others are invited next Saturday as the Town and Country Band, the Friends of Rippey and Greene County veterans groups join to raise funds for the completion of Greene County’s Freedom Rock.

The Town and Country Band will perform Aug. 13 at 6:30 p.m. in front of the library on Main Street. Concert-goers should bring lawn chairs, as seating will be on the library lawn.

Veterans and Friends of Rippey will serve sweets and ice cream. Donations will be accepted during the evening, with all proceeds going toward the Freedom Rock.

The band will play a variety of songs, including some they played at the Municipal Band Festival in Boone last month. By popular request the band will perform a veterans salute. All area veterans are encouraged to attend the concert and be recognized during the salute.

The Town and Country Band is directed by Victoria Chargo, a 2011 Jefferson-Scranton graduate who is now the band director at Audubon.

“We were happy to be invited to play in Rippey, and even happier when the evening became a fundraiser for the Freedom Rock,” Chargo said. “This is a great way for us to participate in a project that’s important to so many people.”

The Freedom Rock will be located in Jefferson between the Milwaukee Railroad depot and the Greene County Fairgrounds on land recently donated to the Greene County Fair Association by Landus Cooperative. The old Milligan grain elevator will be the backdrop.

The Boone Freedom Rock was unveiled Aug. 1. Sorenson's daughter, Indie "Nugget" Sorenson, 2, is learning to help.
The Boone Freedom Rock was unveiled Aug. 1. Sorenson’s daughter, Indie “Nugget” Sorenson, 2, is learning the art of freedom.

A committee composed of veterans, representatives of the Greene County Fair Association, the Greene County Board of Supervisors and the Jefferson City Council is spearheading the project. Artist Ray “Bubba” Sorenson will paint the rock next April.

The committee is working to raise between $15,000 and $20,000 to cover Freedom Rock artists Sorenson’s fees and the necessary landscaping, lighting, cement work and signage.

The original Freedom Rock was painted in 1999 and stands along Iowa Highway 25 near Menlo.

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