Prescott Valley’s first Freedom Rock to be dedicated June 27

Prescott Valley plans to dedicate the first Freedom Rock in Arizona on June 27, organizers said during an interview on the local program PV in Focus. The painted boulder and adjacent Walk of Honor, placed on town land, were funded by donations, commemorative brick sales and donated labor.

Aaron O'Hara, a Prescott Valley community member and organizer of the Freedom Rock project, said the rock is “the first community in Arizona to have a Freedom Rock.” He described the installation as a local memorial tailored to Arizona: “Everyone and everything represented on the rock is Arizona,” O'Hara said.

O'Hara, who retired from the Army “at the end of 2022 after more than 32 years of service,” said the site is intended as a place for veterans to gather and remember. “It'll be a place of solitude where you can kind of take a moment and remember those that perhaps aren't with us anymore,” he said, recounting veterans who come together there and share stories.

The artist behind the Freedom Rock concept is Ray “Bubba” Sorensen of Greenfield, Iowa, who began painting large boulders to honor veterans and is on a multi-state tour. O'Hara said Sorensen painted the Prescott Valley rock last October and that the design includes figures and motifs chosen for local and state significance: Corporal Ira Hayes and the USS Arizona; Navajo Code Talkers; Pat Tillman; and Lori Ann Piestewa. O'Hara also noted the rock depicts, in miniature, the future USS Arizona (SSN-803).

Local support for the project was extensive, organizers said. Mark Bailey donated the 38,000‑pound rock; O'Hara noted that at $0.10 per pound that donation would be worth “almost $4,000.” D and O Crane donated the heavy-lift crane work to place the rock. Contributors included construction and supply firms, civic organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, the American Legion, the VFW and the Elks, and individual community donors who purchased commemorative bricks.

The Freedom Rock site sits on the Civic Center campus near town hall and the police department. The project includes a Walk of Honor and commemorative bricks; O'Hara said organizers have built a scholarship mechanism so veterans who cannot afford the $100 brick price can still be commemorated. He said the installation can host ceremonies and that veterans will have priority seating at the June 27 dedication.

Organizers are continuing brick sales and outreach. O'Hara said about 500 bricks have been sold so far toward an estimated capacity of 1,700. Brick orders and donation information are available on the Prescott Valley town website (search “Freedom Rock”) and on the Freedom Rock Prescott Valley Facebook page; organizers also host tours and assistance at the site on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The dedication program will invite “hometown heroes,” brick purchasers, contractors who helped with the project, and family members of the figures represented on the rock. O'Hara said Corporal Ira Hayes’ grandnephew will attend with Hayes’ dog tag and family scrapbook, families of Navajo Code Talkers will participate, and relatives of Lori Ann Piestewa will be present. The ceremony is open to the public, with veterans prioritized for seating.

“It's something that the town is helped us to do,” O'Hara said of the memorial and its place on the Civic Center campus, framing it as a community-built space meant to foster remembrance and storytelling.

The Prescott Valley Freedom Rock dedication will take place June 27, one week before the town's Red, White and Boom celebration.