Renamed veterans committee working closely with county

The Pahrump Veterans Advisory Committee, formerly the Advisory Board, is working closely with county officials on upcoming projects.

Treasurer Dina Williamson-Erdag said the change from board to committee, was prompted by the dissolution of the Pahrump Town Board this year.

“The fact that we no longer serve the town board, our governing body is now the county commissioners and they wanted to make it more in line with the Nevada Revised Statutes that we are not a board, but a committee,” she said.

Three members of the new committee along with Commissioner Frank Carbone met at the veterans section of the Chief Tecopa Cemetery this week.

Committee Chairman Carl Jones said the community can expect to see more renovations at the facility, especially the multipurpose building which will house and display military memorabilia and collectables.

“We have a sub-committee to design how we are going to put everything up here,” he said. “We want to have a theme and not just have it thrown up.”

Williamson-Erdag noted that local veterans may submit items of remembrance from their military career for display in the multipurpose building.

“The sub-committee’s job is to put together some plan for the utilization of displays within the building,” she said.

Committee member Walter Hartley said the veterans’ portion of the cemetery is something the community can be proud of.

“Families can have their loved one’s memorial services or even casket services performed here,” he said. “They won’t have far to go to have their loved one interred in our veterans cemetery. We have had several services over the past couple of years and we just want everybody in the community to be aware that this is an option for them.”

Williamson-Erdag also said many local veterans and their families may not be aware of what she said was a very reasonable price for services at the site.

She noted that the multipurpose building can also be rented out as a venue by individuals and organizations that are not part of the veteran community.

“It’s a lovely facility to have a memorial service either inside the building or in the flag folding area,” she said. “We also have a donation wall and a memorial wall for family members who have loved ones they want to memorialize with plaques being displayed on the memorial wall or donation wall. We are also in the process of getting more benches that have the dedication message on them, so there’s a lot of projects in the works.”

Commissioner Frank Carbone said aside from the name change the veterans advisory committee will remain as it always has when it was an advisory board.

“Nothing is changing and everything is still the Town of Pahrump,” he said. “Nye County is Nye County, but it’s still the Town of Pahrump and the cemetery is still the town’s property.

The Chief Tecopa Cemetery is located on West St., next to the Pahrump Community Library.

For additional information on using the building, contact the town office at 775-727-5107.