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CONTACT: Jay Purdy (717) 787-7895
HARRISBURG, Feb. 17--One can't get much further away from Pennsylvania than Australia, but even on the opposite side of the globe word about the Gettysburg Monuments Project has gotten out. The initiator of the project, Rep. Harry Readshaw, D-Allegheny, today announced that the fund drive has received a contribution from American Civil War enthusiast Kerry Webb of Lyneham, Australia. Lyneham is a suburb of the national capital of Canberra in the Australian CapitalTerritory.

Readshaw said Webb wrote to order a commemorative license plate and a copy of the book, "A Guide to Pennsylvania Troops at Gettysburg." Readshaw penned the preface to the most recent edition of the book. Authors Richard Rollins and Dave Shultz have pledged a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the book to go to Readshaw's campaign to preserve the 136 Pennsylvania monuments and markers on the historic battlefield at Gettysburg.

Webb learned about the monument preservation effort through the Gettysburg Monuments Project site on the Internet, which was recently updated and expanded. The address is www.fourscore.org. Readshaw's e-mail address is gettysburg@pahouse.net.

"As a student of the Civil War and Gettysburg in particular, I admire what Rep. Readshaw is doing," Webb wrote. "This really demonstrates the power of the Internet to me," said Readshaw.

"Mr. Webb first contacted us only a couple days after the refurbished site went online. From Harrisburg to Australia - that's quite a reach."

In his response, Readshaw asked Webb to send him a picture of the commemorative plate on display.

"While I suspect he'll probably display it in a frame on the wall, it would be neat to see the plate on a vehicle along a road in the 'outback,' maybe even with a kangaroo thrown in for good measure."

Other international orders for the decorative Gettysburg monuments plate have come from Great Britain and France.