Proctor Park fundraiser nearly halfway to goal

Efforts to honor two fallen hometown heroes and revitalize Proctor Park are getting closer to reality.

Maribeth Alspach, former New Whiteland clerk-treasurer, has been leading fundraising to memorialize Indiana State Trooper Aaron Smith and Johnson County Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Guyer at the park on Tracy Road in New Whiteland. Smith and Guyer, who both lived in Johnson County, died while on duty this year.

Alspach’s original plan was to raise funds for a memorial stone and bricks for Smith’s military and police service, as well as a brick for Guyer for his law enforcement service. She also wanted to renovate the law enforcement and first responders memorial walk on the south end of the park.

Those plans are still in motion, but the project has expanded, and the donation goal roughly doubled. The Proctor Park Volunteer Committee now wants to move the law enforcement memorial walk, called the “Pathway of Honor” to the front of the park near the north entrance.

They also plan to build a granite monument wall honoring first responders. The brick pavers would be placed on the trail along the wall, Alspach said. Many visitors to Proctor Park don’t realize there is a law enforcement memorial in the back, so this change will make it more visible, she said.

“We want to move it to the front of the park so it’s on equal footing with our veterans section,” Alspach said.

The total estimated cost for this project is about $50,000. So far, they have nearly reached the halfway point with $19,500 raised in about a month.

UpLift Johnson County has partnered with Alspach and New Whiteland to promote fundraising, and is accepting donations on their website at upliftjoco.org. The group also plans to create a dedicated website for the Proctor Park project, and promote it more on social media, Alspach said.

Alspach hopes to bring more attention to the project and encourage the community to get involved, even if they can only donate a small amount, she said. The park committee is seeking out an architect to put together a design for the new section of the park that can be shown to the community, so they have a visual of what they’re donating to, Alspach said.

Alspach and student volunteers at Whiteland Community High School collected donations for the park at the Aug. 25 varsity football game. Students helped collect donations from people in the stands during the game that evening, and they collected around $700.

Beyond this project, Alspach hopes to get a grant to repaint the existing monuments. She also is looking for a sponsor to build a memorial for veterans lost to suicide. She thinks the Indianapolis Colts and owner Jim Irsay would be the “perfect partners,” with the Colts’ ongoing “Kicking the Stigma” campaign to raise awareness and funds for mental health treatment. However, she doesn’t know how she can get in contact with Irsay to get him involved.

“I’m just a silly lady from New Whiteland. I don’t have a way to get access to Jim Irsay,” Alspach said “… You’ve got to dream big, and that’s what I do.”