By David Eck
Enquirer contributor

FOREST PARK - A group of residents and emergency personnel are working to give a perpetual "thank you" to this community's police officers and firefighters.

The group of eight to 10 people wants to build a monument to the city's emergency workers. The $190,000 project will feature bronze 7-foot statues of a police officer, firefighter, paramedic and child. The statues will be placed on a 4-foot pedestal.

The monument will also include the name of every Forest Park police officer, firefighter or emergency services worker - career or volunteer - who served the community for at least five years.

"It's one of those things where it was talked about and nobody did it," said Sandy Sanders, a 35-year Forest Park resident who is spearheading the project. "We decided that we would try and see if we could raise the money to build a monument in their honor."

The group is soliciting businesses and organizations for financial help, and is planning fund-raisers.

The project will be totally funded by donations, although the city has agreed to provide a location at the municipal complex near the intersection of Kemper and Winton roads for the monument.

"Our role is really more of a supportive role," said Forest Park City Manager Ray Hodges. "We're pleased to see that our residents are not only involved but they're leading the way on this project. We think it's a fantastic idea."

The statues on the monument will be modeled after members of the Forest Park police and fire departments.

"When you look at the statues they will be actual people that worked here," said Bob Wright, who has worked for the Forest Park police department for more than 30 years "If anybody knows these police officers or firefighters personally, they would recognize them."'

Sanders, whose husband was a Forest Park volunteer firefighter for 10 years, knows the sacrifices that emergency workers make. The long hours. The calls in the middle of the night. The danger.

"We hope to have the money and the completion of the monument in two years," Sanders said. "(We want) to show the police officers and firefighters that they are appreciated and that the community stands behind them and wants to honor them for their dedication."

Send donations to Franklin Savings and Loan; attn. Donna Graham; 4750 Ashwood Drive; 3rd floor; Cincinnati, 45241. For information on the project, visit www.forestpark.org

E-mail daveck@fuse.net