Leicester Projects: Honoring the Fallen, Inspiring the Future
Leicester, Massachusetts, is where Soldiers, Scouts, Students first took shape — transforming faded memorials and forgotten stories into a living framework for community service and leadership.
What began as a simple idea — connecting students, Scouts, and veterans through history — has grown into a model for civic pride and generational connection.
🕊️ Gold Star Squares Restoration Project
Leicester’s Gold Star Squares are a series of 19 veteran memorials scattered across the town — each one honoring a service member who gave their life in defense of our country.
Over the decades, the signs quietly faded, and many of the stories behind those names risked being lost.
With leadership, historical expertise and a lot of hard work from the Cherry Valley American Legion Post 443 and Commander Patrick McKeon, the project began its transformation.
McKeon’s decades of archival research provided the foundation for the digital biographies that now accompany each Gold Star Square.
Working side by side, local Scouts, students, veterans, and volunteers replaced every sign, trimmed overgrown areas, spread mulch, and installed QR codes linking to each soldier’s story online.
The entire project was privately funded — 100 percent community supported.
Leicester’s official town website has showcased this project as an example of what’s possible when an entire community comes together in service:
https://www.leicesterma.org/1746/Leicester-Gold-Star-Project
From faded to renewed — a town united to honor its heroes and keep their stories alive.
📚 Leicester Public Library – Digital Connection
A smaller, early proof-of-concept project that demonstrated how easily digital storytelling could bring local history online.
A single QR code was added to the Leicester Public Library monument, linking directly to an online historical archive.
It showed that anyone — Scout, student, or citizen — can make a difference in preserving access to history.
See the Story Here!
⚔️ Leicester Town Common – Revolutionary War Monument
Another early project took place at the Leicester Town Common, marking the town’s role in the very first day of the American Revolution. This granite monument honors Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Denny and the Leicester Minute Men and Standing Company who marched from this spot on April 19, 1775, when word of the battles at Lexington and Concord reached Worcester County.
A QR code was added at the site to connect visitors directly to Leicester’s historical record, ensuring that the courage of those who answered the alarm remains visible and accessible to all.
🌟 What These Projects Represent
Together, these Leicester initiatives reflect the heart of Soldiers, Scouts, Students — grassroots leadership, respect for history, and the belief that small acts of service can create lasting impact.
Each project, whether youth-led or community-driven, strengthens the bond between generations and shows how local pride can inspire national purpose.
“From one square to nineteen, from one person to dozens — this is what happens when people take ownership of their town’s story.”
Link to Gold star sign map—https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=14t_4lZCrZNFf13schDw0wurgMn1DchM&ll=42.213819618734476%2C-71.88620593056639&z=13