This cleanup event will start at 8:00 a.m. and go until 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Bring gloves and grabbers if you have them. We will supply some grabbers and gloves that will be provided by Keep Brevard Beautiful as well as garbage bags and plenty of ice-cold water. Come prepared to work. Please wear appropriate footwear for working in and around water and lets be careful.
The Blue Star Memorial Highways are a tribute to the armed forces that have defended the United States of America. The idea dates to 1944 when the New Jersey State Council of Garden Clubs beautified a 5½-mile stretch of U.S. 22 from Mountainside to North Plainfield. The Blue Star, taken from the blue star in the service banner, was chosen to symbolize the memorial because it was used during World War II on flags and homes of families that had a son or daughter in the service. Today there are more than 70,000 miles of highway designated as Blue Star Memorial Highways. Blue Star Memorial Markers are standing proudly along these thoroughfares nationwide. These markers are everywhere. How many times have we seen these markers out of the corner of our eye as we zoom on by. Lets stop for a moment and honor one of our local heroes by cleaning up this section of the road that bears his name.
The Emory L. Bennett Causeway running from State Road 520 west of Cocoa, northeast and east across U.S. Highway 1, the Indian River Lagoon, Merritt Island and the Banana River, was dedicated on October 11, 1963 as a two-lane toll bridge and road. It was assigned the SR 528 number over its whole length. The causeway was named in honor of Emory L. Bennett, recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Korean War, and is part of the Indian River Lagoon Scenic Highway.
Emory Lawrence Bennett (December 20, 1929 – June 24, 1951) was a United States Army soldier in the Korean War who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor. Bennett was born in New Smyrna Beach, Florida on December 20, 1929. His family moved to Indianola on Merritt Island when he was six and to Cocoa in 1937. His parents ran "Bennett Fish Market", and he helped catch fish in the nearby Indian River to sell. Emory Bennett graduated from Cocoa High School in 1948 and enlisted in the Army on July 25, 1950.