The Blue Star Memorial Marker Program of the National Garden Clubs Inc. in 1945 began to honor men and women serving in the Armed Forces during World War II. In 1951 it was expanded to honor all men and women who had served, were serving or would serve in the armed forces of the United States.

The Cape Girardeau Council of Garden Clubs and the Federated Garden Clubs of Missouri have joined to raise more than $940, the cost of the marker, which measures 41 inches high by 45 inches wide, plus shipping and installation. Liley Monument Works donated a granite stone which will be adjacent to the memorial. It will have the engraved names of the donors on it.

The Cape Girardeau Blue Star Memorial plaque will be at the Cape Girardeau Veterans Home, in the vicinity of the flagpole. Other donors include Cape Elks Lodge 639, the Sanford Chapter of the Daughters of American Colonists and Cape Girardeau VFW Post 3838.

A dedication ceremony will be held at the plaque's installation, said Nadine Davis, Cape Girardeau Council of Garden Clubs Blue Star Memorial chairwoman.

The blue star centered at the top was chosen as a design element to symbolize the blue star on the World War II service flags, which hung in so many homes of service men and women as a tribute.

Garden club women envisioned a living memorial back in 1945.

A joint project was implemented between the Garden Club of New Jersey and that state's highway department, designating six miles of highway to be planted with flowering dogwood trees as a memorial by the legislature.

A similar project adopted nationally includes both Blue Star Memorials and Blue Star Memorial highway markers.

For more information, call Nadine Davis at 334-2969.