CANTON, Texas (KETK) — KETK’s Neal Barton visited Van Zandt County to show appreciation to the community for this week’s segment of Small Town Live.

Van Zandt County is the second stop in this round of the Small Town Live series.

Last week, we visited Gregg County for the first stop. Stay tuned for next week’s Small Town Live as we travel to Whitehouse.

Neal Barton visited the Veteran’s Memorial Plaza in Van Zandt County. He spoke with a U.S. Air Force veteran, Dan Maucieri, who served for 30 years. He explained how the plaza was put together and added onto later. The Kneeling Soldier statue was modeled after a local soldier, Juan Herrera, and made by a local artist. Find more information about the memorial plaza in the video above.

Maucieri explained how the different military equipment on display was once used. He also shared how people can purchase a brick in the plaza for $125 each to commemorate anyone, the sales from the bricks raise money for the plaza. Hear all about the plaza in the video below:

There is a UH-1 Huey helicopter from the Marines on display at the memorial plaza. Maucieri said that the same type of helicopters are still flown today. To see the plane, ship anchor and helicopter on display, watch the video below.

Neal Barton had the opportunity to speak with Lou Ann Everett, the mayor of Canton. She shared interesting facts about the city of Canton and talked about the fair being in town. Watch the video below to hear more of what Mayor Everett had to say.