Members of the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine stop at Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse while participating in a four-mile hike with The Summit Project on Saturday, Feb. 27. The South Portland club members carried tribute stones of post-9/11 Maine service members who died in the line of duty. The families of the fallen heroes donate the stones in memory of their loved ones, and the stones are engraved by TSP. Volunteers can take the stones on a journey anywhere in the world after agreeing to learn about the soldier, carry the stone with them during their travel, and then write a letter about their experiences and what it meant to them to keep alive the memory of the fallen soldier. Stones have been carried to places like Mount Kilimanjaro, Denali and base camp at Mount Everest. The Summit Project motto is “We carry their stone for a hike, we carry their story for a lifetime.” (Melanie Sochan / For The Forecaster)

Mekhi Bitjoka, left, and Brady Kirk, both 12, and Brady’s mother Jennifer Kirk, program assistant at the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine in South Portland, walk along Willard Beach on Saturday, Feb. 27, while participating in a four-mile tribute march with The Summit Project. (Melanie Sochan / For The Forecaster)Mekhi Bitjoka, left, and Brady Kirk, both12, members of the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine in South Portland, walk along Willard Beach while participating in a four-mile tribute march with The Summit Project on Saturday, Feb. 27. (Melanie Sochan / For The Forecaster)Mekhi Bitjoka, 12, holds The Summit Project memorial stone of U.S. Army Sgt. Jason W. Swiger of South Portland during a ceremony at the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine in South Portland on Saturday, Feb. 27. (Melanie Sochan / For The Forecaster)

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