LAKE COUNTY – District Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro (D-North Coast) has introduced Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 136, which would designate California State Highway 53 “Lake County Veterans Memorial Highway.”

 

“More than two million California residents have served our country in the military and we need to show them our gratitude,” Chesbro said. “Naming a highway after our veterans is the least we can do to show our appreciation.”

Highway 53 is a seven-mile, north-south artery that connects state highways 20 and 29 in Lake County.

Highway 53 provides access to the city of Clearlake, the community of Lower Lake and Anderson Marsh State Historical Park.

Chesbro authored the resolution at the request of the Lake County Board of Supervisors, which was looking for a way to honor county residents who died while serving their country in the armed forces.

Lake County has suffered the deaths of two servicemen with local ties in recent years.

Lance Corporal Ivan Wilson, a resident of the City of Clearlake, was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2008.

Then, earlier this month, Sgt. 1st Class David J. Hartman, raised in Merced County but with many family members now living in Lake County, was killed by a roadside bomb in Pakistan.

“This is our community's gesture of gratitude honoring David Hartman, Ivan Wilson and all those currently serving and who have served,” said Supervisor Denise Rushing.

Last year, the Clearlake Rotary spearheaded the effort to have Highway 53 designated a Veterans Memorial Highway, as Lake County News has reported.

In August 2009, club representatives took the proposal to the Clearlake City Council and the Lake County Board of Supervisors, and received the unanimous support of both of those bodies.

At that time, Rotarian and Clearlake Police Chief Allan McClain said the effort started “because of the emotions and the things that people felt when we brought one of our own home,” in the wake of Wilson's death.

Chesbro's staff had told the Rotary that he would introduce the legislation early this year, and the bill's arrival came right on that original schedule.

 

ACR 136 is supported by the Clear Lake City Council, Lake County Board of Supervisors, Rotary Club of Clearlake, American Legion Post 194, Lake County Disabled Veterans of America, Lake County Voiture 912 40 and 8, Operation Tango Mike, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 951 and Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.

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