The Berrien County Chamber of Commerce was successfully awarded a Georgia Council for the Arts Vibrant Communities Grant to assist with funding the re-creation the World War II Honor Roll display honoring the Berrien County service men and women that bravely served in World War II.  The Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Main Street, Berrien County Historical Foundation, Berrien County VFW Post 5978 and the City of Nashville have partnered to execute the project.  The list of names were originally featured on the side of the McLamb Building and were painted by James McKinnon.   

“Re-creating the Honor Roll display has been a goal for several community agencies for many years,” said Crissy Staley, executive director, Berrien County Chamber of Commerce.  “With the funding assistance offered from the Georgia Council for the Arts Vibrant Communities grant and the cooperation of several local partners we were finally able to get the Honor Roll list displayed again.”

For the re-creation of the Berrien County WWII Honor Roll display, local artist Jill Whitley was selected to hand paint the nearly 1,300 names.  While the original work featured the names painted directly on the brick of the building the re-creation of the display will feature ten aluminum panels placed on the Nashville Community Center facing Connie’s Childrens Park. 

“Nashville Main Street, the City of Nashville and the Berrien County Preservation Commission worked together to develop a design for the re-creation of the Honor Roll display that would preserve the integrity of the original work,” said Jill Wise, director, Nashville Main Street. 

“Berrien County VFW Post 5978 is honored to be a partner in the Honor Roll project,” said Brandon Livingston, Commander, Berrien County VFW Post 5978. “Re-creating the Honor Roll display has been a goal and topic of discussion for the Post for many years.  We are proud to have the names of our World War II service men and women proudly on display in Berrien County again.”