PORT ANGELES — Clallam County has relinquished seven World War I rifles to the Marine Corps League honor guard.
The Eddystone and Winchester rifles have been stored in a Clallam County Sheriff’s Office armory since 1994.
The three commissioners granted a request from the Marine Corps League Mount Olympus Detachment No. 897 to use the rifles for funerals and Clallam County Veterans Association ceremonies.
“The CCVA feels strongly that these weapons are a piece of history and should not be destroyed,” association President Gary Velie and Vice President Terry Roth wrote in a Thursday letter to commissioners.
The Marine Corps League operates the only active veteran organization rifle honor guard in Clallam County.
Last year, the honor guard participated in 22 funerals, six memorials and eight bell-ringing ceremonies at Veterans Park in Port Angeles.
This year, it participated in 23 funerals, four memorials, six bell-ringing ceremonies, parades and other ceremonies.
In other board action, commissioners called for bids for three facilities projects: new lighting at the west midway of the Clallam County Fairgrounds, new paint for the art and agriculture barns at the fairgrounds and a new crosswalk at the Clallam County Courthouse.
A grant from the Department of Agriculture will cover half the $40,000 lighting and safety improvements for the midway.
The other half of the lighting project — and the $53,000 cost of painting the buildings — will be funded by real estate excise tax revenue.
The $35,000 crosswalk and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements for the courthouse are fully funded by the Secretary of State’s Office, said county Parks, Fair and Facilities manager Joel Winborn.
This year’s Clallam County Fair is Aug. 16-19.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
