Having a (Golf) Ball for Veterans Plaza

When Kissing Tree resident David Reel started collecting golf balls from his back yard on the 9th Fairway during the Covid shutdown, he never could have realized the huge impact his actions would have on the KT community. In June of 2020, David put some of his found golf balls out in a cart in front of his house, along with an American flag and honor-system sign mentioning that any donations would go to support the Kissing Tree Veterans’ Group. 

Since that time, David’s humble golf ball cart has received donations of more than $12,000. “It’s all been from the community here,” David says. “People just drive up in their golf carts – they may leave a couple of bucks or a quarter or two, and they help themselves.”

Balls for the Cause

That initial $12,000 David raised ended up being the seed money budget for the Kissing Tree Veterans’ Group, which uses its funds to support veterans’ projects, primarily within the San Marcos community and Hays County, including the Wounded Warrior Project, Wreaths Across America, the San Marcos High School Junior ROTC, Back the Blue, the local VFW hall maintenance, and other worthy causes including services for PTSD survivors. But perhaps the biggest project the KT Veterans’ Group has taken on has been the planning and construction of Kissing Tree Veterans Plaza. 

A Plan for the Plaza

David credits the support of Kissing Tree Lifestyle Director Kevin Wilson (himself an Air Force veteran) and Matthew Dozier, then Executive Director of Community Life, for helping the plan for the Plaza finally come to life in the summer of 2023. “Since Kissing Tree first started in 2017, we had wanted a spot where we could honor veterans, both living and deceased,” David said. “Cohere and Brookfield said they would set aside an area near The Mix, and that if we could sell bricks in two sizes to raise the $110,000 necessary for the Plaza, they would match it. They thought it would be years before we could raise the money, but we saw that as a challenge.”

A Plaza of Powerful Stories

David volunteered to lead the sales and marketing initiative for the bricks, and a team of veterans and spouses rallied to help with sales. “When you sit with relatives who have lost a loved one, particularly widows of past vets, many of them want to tell their stories,” David said. “Some of us could write a book about the stories we heard; what these veterans went through in WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq — it was an emotional event for the team as we helped people figure out what to put on their bricks to honor each veteran.”

Expanding the Mission

In November of 2023, with the help of Matthew Dozier, the Veterans Group had a successful silent auction at The Mix that helped raise thousands of dollars and was attended by the mayor of San Marcos, as well as several city council members and other dignitaries. Soon after, the Veterans Group realized they wanted to expand the mission of the plaza to honor not just veterans, but anyone who had lost a loved one. 

“We wanted to create a quiet spot where anyone could reflect and talk to loved ones they had left at another cemetery throughout the country,” David said. “As that became known, even more of the community supported us.” 

Kissing Tree Comes Together

In true Kissing Tree fashion, the community rallied together, with people in different neighborhoods hosting block parties where David and his team would describe the plaza, sell bricks, and ask for funds. “We had several block parties where people donated,” David said. “Kissing Tree is laced with so many clubs and groups. People come together to share each other’s time. We have organized groups and clubs for golf, pickleball, darts, and bowling, just to name a few. Leaders of these groups came to our team and donated funds for the Plaza.”

San Marcos Helps Out

It wasn’t just the groups inside Kissing Tree who contributed to Veterans Plaza – the San Marcos community jumped in to help as well. “We had more than $40,000 contributed for the plaza from local car dealerships, the police department, a title company, and restaurants here in the community,” David says. “We even had a car dealership in Houston that donated $8,000!”

Go Time

By March of 2024, the Veterans Group had exceeded their goal, and the Brookfield and Cohere teams hurried to plan a groundbreaking for July. “No one expected us to raise the money that fast,” David said. “In the meantime, we got together with Ryan Andrews from Troon, and they sponsored a golf tournament that helped to raise an additional $20,000.”

A Plaza for the People

Built by Debbie Jackson and her team from Sagebrush Landscaping, Veterans Plaza today offers a serene, quiet place where people can reflect and remember. And because many of the funds for the plaza were raised through donations, there are still bricks available for future residents to purchase. “We’re not yet 50% full on bricks,” David says. “That’s all been turned over to Kevin and his staff now. I give great thanks to Matthew, Kevin, and Cohere for all of their hard work. We’ve created something we can be very proud of — and a place we can use for ceremonies for Veterans Day and Memorial Day.”

About Those Golf Balls…

If you need a few golf balls, don’t hesitate to swing by David’s house and leave a generous donation. “I used to go hunt balls on the course, but I haven’t done that in the past year.” David says. “Now, people drop bags of balls on my porch, and different clubs bring me balls. I have 2000 balls in my garage in plastic tubs! My neighbor Larry Walsh, a Vietnam veteran, lives around the corner from me. He and his wife, Kris, are avid golfers. They find and collect golf balls and sell used balls out of their garage (see picture). From their proceeds, they donated over $6,000 to the Kissing Tree Veterans Group to support veterans’ related projects! The support of the Kissing Tree Community blows me away. As long as Larry and I are “above ground,” we plan to keep this up.”