Skiatook Mother Leading Push For Veterans Park In Town

A Skiatook mother and other supporters are working with the city to bring a Veterans Park to town.

But they need help from the community.

The new park would go along WC Rogers Boulevard, a main road in town. Organizers said it will cost $300,000 to make the plans a reality.

The roughly three acres of space are just grass and weeds now, but there is a vision for where every monument, park bench and flag will go.

“Our veterans deserve it. They deserve to have a happy place to go to,” Michelle Atkins said.

Atkins, a Gold Star Mother, is leading the push to bring a Veterans Park to Skiatook. People can buy engraved bricks to help support the effort. She said the need is great, but money is coming in.

She said so far, she and others have raised $9,022 through the nonprofit created to help make the park. 

AMY: “So you're just getting started.”

MICHELLE: "We are just getting started."

There are also hats and T-shirts for sale. Michelle wears her son's name, Justin Lambillotte, proudly on her shirt. He died in 2022 while serving in the Army at Fort Hood in Texas.

"It's just a way to keep them with ya,” she said.

The local VFW Post is helping too, by offering to build all the flagpoles. Chaplain Brian Stumpf sees the need for the park.

"We have a setup at the cemetery, where we do a lot of the funerals and stuff. But most people, after the funeral, they don't want to go to a cemetery. They want someplace nice where they can go and sit and reflect,” he said.

A space to remember and honor, without having to go very far.

"We could use this park in our community,” Stumpf said. “We see all the surrounding neighborhoods; Collinsville just got a new setup over there that's really nice. Owasso has been working on theirs on 116th Street -- it is gorgeous. It's really nice. We need that here in town. Let's make a name for Skiatook as well."

The goal is to have a groundbreaking next month in time for Veterans Day, then have the park ready for the public by Veterans Day 2025.

To purchase a memorial brick, click here for information.

To keep up with the project, click here.