Tim Ryan tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Tim Ryan Shawano Mayor Jeanne Cronce, center, with Parks and Recreation Director Matt Hendricks in the background, accepts a donation from VFW Post 2723 President Candy Gipe, far right, for a new veterans memorial at Woodlawn Cemetery Friday, while auxiliary members Elaine Montour, Nancy Raeder, Barb Wetzel and Barb Parrott look on.
Attendees at next year’s Memorial Day service at Woodlawn Cemetery in Shawano will notice some changes to the memorial circle where hundreds traditionally gather each year to honor veterans.
Actually, anyone who visits the cemetery should see the changes by the end of this year, according to Matt Hendricks, director of the Parks and Recreation Department, which oversees the cemetery as part of the city’s park system.
The department Friday accepted a $3,500 donation from the Herbert E. McLaughlin VFW Post 2723 Auxiliary in Shawano that puts the department over the top financially of what it will need for the first phase of establishing a new memorial at the cemetery.
There initially had been some discussion of putting the memorial at Franklin Park, which is undergoing renovation and fundraising for its own needs.
“There was a contingent that wanted to see a memorial at Franklin Park,” Hendricks said. “There’s a lot of good feelings behind that in the community, but when looking at it, we thought the placement of it might be more appropriate here.”
The department has been working on the project for about two years.
“With the donation from the VFW auxiliary, we’ll have enough funds now to do something, something that the public will be able to see by end of the year,” Hendricks said.
That something will include five new benches, each inscribed with a military emblem engraved by tech ed students at Shawano Community High School.
Three flags will wave above it all — a new U.S. flag, a state flag and a flag honoring prisoners of war and those missing in action.
Next year, the department plans to add five more flags, one for each branch of the military service.
Hendricks said future phases include some larger memorial marker or monument, but fundraising is continuing on that component.
“That piece will take a significant amount of funds,” he said. “We’ll work on it as funding allows and donations happen.”
Auxiliary President Candy Gipe said the auxiliary is going through a transition right now.
“We wanted to deplete some of the funds in our account and we couldn’t think of a better place to do it,” she said. “It’s very important to us and we’ll continue to fund-raise for it as much as we can and get as many people involved as we can.”
The auxiliary’s donation put the park department’s funds for the project just over $9,000, Hendricks said. The three flag poles will cost about $5,000 and the new benches about $2,000.
Mayor Jeanne Cronce called it a wonderful opportunity to show that the community honors its veterans.
“They’re important, and we’re very happy that we can supply a place to honor them and come and reflect on their service,” she said.
The granite stone memorial at the cemetery, where the memorial wreath is traditionally placed each year, is expected to be returned to its original location at what was once the Franklin School and is now Franklin Park at some point.
A new memorial will replace it, but exactly what the memorial will be hasn’t yet been determined.
“We’re happy to have input on it,” Hendricks said.
Hendricks said all of the department’s projects have included input, support and partnerships with the community, including not just donations but also volunteers.
Cronce said the new memorial, as well as the development of Franklin Park and other park improvements, are part of the city’s comprehensive plan, but have been made possible because of the city’s partnerships with other community groups.
“It’s because of these partnerships that we’re able to do those things,” she said. “We’re really blessed in that way.”