Help Restore Dan-o's Legacy Plaque

My name is Steve Lind. I was one of Dan-o Watkins's best friends in high school. One of several passions we shared together was bicycle touring. This was back in the 1970s, when the popularity of 10-speed bikes for adults was just gaining a resurgence. In 1974, in our junior year in high school, Dan and I proposed a comprehensive bike route throughout the city to the Moline City Council. This was later approved with funding for sign markers and improvements on dangerous storm drainage grates for bike riders. Dan and I continued on weekend and overnight bike tours with his father and high school friends. In 1975, our senior year, Dan heard about a 4,000-mile cross-country bike tour across America being organized for the Bicentennial in 1976. We promised each other we were committed to undertaking this adventure. But first, we needed to graduate and take one last 3-day bike tour before Dan headed to Colorado that summer, where he taught at a mountain climbing school. We kept in touch through letters that summer, planning another bike tour when Dan returned in September. Tragically, a week before returning home, Dan died in a mountaineering accident. Everyone was in total shock when they heard the news. Dan-o was our class president in high school and one of our class's most popular and beloved members. The loss was unbearable, especially to Dan's family, which had four sisters. The following year, an Eagle Scout erected a monument with a bronze plaque along the route at Riverside Park, dedicated to the Dan-o Watkins Memorial Bike Trail. For 49 years, the monument stood as a reminder of Dan-o's effort in making this bike trail a reality. Sadly, last year, a rogue metal scrapper tore off this plaque along with other metal plaques along the Butterworth Parkway, selling them for cash. Replacing the bronze plaque today is cost-prohibitive and subject to similar potential theft. The polished black granite replacement allows for the etching of Dan-o's face, which has little value for potential thieves. This August, the class of 1975 will be celebrating its 50th reunion, and plans would be to rededicate this on its original monument that weekend. This is the only marker recognizing Dan since he was cremated and his ashes were spread in the mountains of Colorado. I can secure this granite plaque at wholesale through my brother, who is in the funeral industry. The money I am asking for covers the production costs of the plaque, shipping, and installation. I did complete that bike tour across America in 1976, along with a photo of Dan-o in my handlebar bag.