Green lights to honor local vets

By Melinda L. Lucas

The Shackelford County Courthouse will “go green” next week as part of a special program intended to honor veterans.

Shackelford County judge Robert Skelton said Monday that local officials had been invited, along with 3,069 other counties and cities, by the National Association of Counties and National Association of Veteran Service Officers to join Operation Green Light for Veterans.

The association is asking the entities to light their buildings with green lights from around Nov. 8 to Nov. 13 to coincide with Veterans Day, which falls on Friday, Nov. 11.

During a recent meeting, Shackelford County commissioners decided they would like to participate in the observance if possible, and Skelton started searching for a way that the local courthouse could be lighted.

He contacted Alan Odom with Premier Metalworks, the general contractor for the latest restoration of the Courthouse in 2018. The general contractor had replaced the outside lights during the restoration with LED lights, which illuminate the Courthouse at night.

At Odom’s suggestion, Skelton called Glenn Henjy with Henjy Contracting, who often does work for Premier Metalworks.

“He felt that the best solution would be transparent green acrylic lenses to cover the lenses of the LED outdoor lights to accomplish the desired effect,” said Skelton.

Henjy orderedthe green acrylic, and he plans to install them by Nov. 8.

Only the lower lights on the building will be green, but that should light up a majority of the building, said Skelton.