A permanent monument commemorating the incarceration of a thousand local Japanese-Americans during World War II will not be istalled on the 70th anniversary, April 25, despite high hopes of many Venetians.

Instead an open-air event will take place beginning at 10am, April 25, at the northwest corner of Lincoln and Venice Blvds., the site of the future marker. The event will include an exhibit of the current design of the marker, which is an obelisk. There will also be speakers from the community, including Arnold Maeda, who was sent to Manzanar Concentration Camp with his family when he was a teenager.

The Venice Japanese-American Memorial Marker Committee which is spearheading the erection of a monument received its largest donation yet on March 22, a $50,000 grant from the National Parks Service. The grant is more than twice as much as has been collected in Venice. Even the city of Los Angeles only contributed $5,000. The Venice Neighborhood Council also contributed $1,300, which is going as partial payment for a required engineering fee. Individual contributions are still being solicited by the committee. However, with the new grant it seems certain that the project will end with a permanent marker.

A fund-raising lunch will be held at Hama Sushi on the Venice traffic circle following the event. For more information, go to Venicejamm.org or call 310-390-1576.