Carver County veterans who served during WWII are eligible for a free day trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the new WWII memorial.

The project is being organized by the Waconia Lions Club, which originally planned to offer the trip to only local veterans, but expanded the trip to include all county veterans.

The $45,000 project, which has been financed through donations from the Waconia community, includes chartering a Sun Country plane, said Chuck Anderson, Lions member and co-chair of the WWII Memorial Visit Project.

The plane will leave at 7 a.m., April 25, and return at 7 p.m. The group will be back in Waconia by 9 p.m., Anderson said.

While in Washington, D.C., the veterans will visit the memorial, eat on a military base, and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

There are 123 spots available and the plane is filling up, Anderson said. The Lions, “want a full plane,” he said.

Besides veterans, the group includes 27 Lions, who are going as helpers, as well as two physicians, six nurses and four members of the media.

Co-chairs Anderson and Rick Wagner were inspired to organize the project after learning about a similar effort in North Carolina. They decided it would be a “perfect project for the community,” Anderson said.

The deadline for signing up is Feb. 15. To register, call Anderson at (952) 442-2342 or Wagner at (952) 442-2980.