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The Hideaway Times: Article Thursday, June 3, 2004 Club restoring Blue Star monumentBy VICTORIA ALDRICH | News-Journal Staff WriterDAYTONA BEACH — Council of Garden Clubs of the Halifax District recently took on a weighty task, restoring a steel monument proclaiming Ridgewood Avenue as a Blue Star Memorial Highway. Damaged heavily over the years, the monument sits just north of the Beville Road intersection and is believed to have been placed there about 50 years ago. “We´re shooting for Flag Day, but we´re not sure when it´s going to be done,” council president Ruth Bon Fleur said. “It´s solid bronze and it weighs about 60 pounds.” Vandalization of the plaque, including the removal of the top part bearing the star, caused them to scrap plans for a simple restoration and opt to recast the plate to original specifications at an Ohio foundry. Supplemented by a $250 grant, Bon Fleur said the project already has cost about $700. Though no city records have been found to indicate when it was erected, it is known that the monument was installed on U.S. 1 by the Daytona Beach Garden Club, which disbanded in the 1950s. A reference on the plaque to the State Road Department of Florida, now called the Florida Department of Transportation, also hints at its age. The National and New Jersey councils of garden clubs dedicated the first Blue Star Memorial Highway along New Jersey´s U.S. 92 in 1945. The program was inspired by the World War II-era practice of hanging banners in windows to indicate family members who saw active duty in the war. Blue stars signified those serving overseas, red stars indicated those wounded in action and gold stars announced deaths. Though they haven´t located other monuments locally, Bon Fleur believes at least two others exist in Volusia County, possibly on the west side. Other expanses in Florida include Interstate 10 near Quincy and U.S. 90 in Marianna.
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