Editing The Day the Music Died (section)

=== Monuments ===
In June 1988, a {{convert|4|ft|adj=on}} tall [[granite]] memorial bearing the names of Peterson and the three entertainers was dedicated outside the Surf Ballroom with Peterson's widow, parents, and sister in attendance; the event marked the first time that the families of Holly, Richardson, Valens, and Peterson had gathered together.

In 1989, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the 1950s era, made a stainless-steel monument that depicts a guitar and a set of three [[gramophone record|records]] bearing the names of the three performers killed in the accident.{{sfn|Lehmer|2004|p=342}} The monument is on private farmland, about {{convert|1/4|mi|ft yd m|abbr=on}} west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, {{convert|5|mi|0|spell=in}} north of Clear Lake. At that intersection, a large plasma-cut steel set of [[Ray-Ban Wayfarer|Wayfarer]]-style glasses, similar to those Holly wore, marks the access point to the crash site.<ref name=Advertiser>{{cite news |first=Kyle |last=Munson |url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/kyle-munson/2016/02/04/rip-jerry-dwyer-man-haunted-buddy-holly-crash/79711056/ |title=RIP Jerry Dwyer, a man haunted by the Buddy Holly crash |newspaper=The Des Moines Register |date=February 4, 2016 |access-date=October 2, 2018}}</ref>

Paquette created a similar stainless-steel monument to the three musicians located outside the [[Riverside Ballroom]] in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Holly, Richardson, and Valens played their penultimate show on <!--the night of-->February 1<!--, 1959-->. This second memorial was unveiled on July 17, 2003.<ref name="Jordan">{{cite web |first=Jennifer |last=Jordan |url=http://www.articlestree.com/music/the-day-the-music-died-tx390707.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120207001836/http://www.articlestree.com/music/the-day-the-music-died-tx390707.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 7, 2012 |title=The Day the Music Died |work=Articles Tree |date=April 11, 2007 |access-date=January 30, 2009}}</ref> In February 2009, a further memorial made by Paquette for Peterson was unveiled at the crash site.<ref name="Naughton">{{cite news |first=Jennifer |last=Jordan |title=Memorial to Buddy Holly pilot dedicated at crash site |work=The Des Moines Register |date=February 2, 2009 |url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090202/BUDDYHOLLY/90202032/1001/NEWS |access-date=April 14, 2009}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Surf Ballroom Monument.jpg|Monument in front of the [[Surf Ballroom]] in [[Clear Lake, Iowa]]
File:GlassesSign.jpg|alt=A sculpture consisting of two white posts holding a black spectacles frame in Buddy Holly's characteristic style|Signpost east of the<!-- Clear Lake--> crash site replicating Holly's signature glasses. The crash site is actually located {{convert|1,850|feet|yd m|0}} from this location, down the path along the fence line.
File:CrashSiteClearLakeIowa.JPG|Memorial<!--marking--> at crash site, 2024
File:Buddy Holley's Pilot.JPG|Memorial<!--marking--> to pilot Roger Peterson at crash site
</gallery>