Veterans Memorial Committee 4-27-10

Veterans Memorial Committee Meeting Minutes April 27, 2010 Committee Members Present: Bob Dickenson Edith Stillson Aaron Fitzherbert Lisa Sargent deForest Bearse Jeff Slade Fred Mellish 1. Approve minutes from the last meeting: March 30, 2010 Jeff Slade motioned to approve the minutes of the March 30 meeting th as presented. Aaron Fitzherbert seconded the motion and all were in favor. 2. Stone Cutting Update: Aaron Aaron has decided that the stone block for the flame stone is still too big and that he would waste a lot of time getting it down in size to where he can start carving it, so he has decided to take it back to Barre himself and have the stone cutter do some more cutting on it. There will be no charge for the additional cutting. The bottom base stone (in Barre) is done and ready to come back. The sub-base (also in Barre) is on hold until the Memorial Day rush is over. Aaron took both the clay model and framed sketch of the first memorial design back to his shop. He is going to make new renditions of both to show the new memorial design. 3. Dedication Ceremony Chip has contacted Senator Sanders' office to invite the Senator to the dedication ceremony. It is apparently too early for the Senator to commit to just now. Fred and deForest are working on compiling the list of Weathersfield veterans to be invited to the ceremony. While there are a dozen or so currently living in Weathersfield, there are many more whose whereabouts are unknown. Lisa offered to help search for them. There was some discussion regarding the actual day of the ceremony. Veterans' Day is on a Thursday which may be convenient for politicians, but impossible for employees in the private sector to attend. It was agreed that this should be discussed further at the next meeting. 4. Educational Component Plan Update from Chip via email: "On April 13th I gave the School Board an update on the Veterans Memorial effort and gave them two "background" papers which our board has seen before. I told them that our board wanted to get the planning and construction of the monument "well down the road" before shifting focus on the Education Component (EC). Four members of the School Board remembered my presentation several years ago and their agreement to our EC concept. They commented that they have been waiting for the Veterans Memorial Committee to return and they remain positive, but I didn't ask them to commit to much until the parameters of the EC are defined. I told them that Sen. Sanders has identified $15,000 for the EC effort, and that our Committee would probably continue to function over the years to work on Veterans issues and on themes for the EC. I told them that we have several years to complete the project and spend the grant money on the EC. All this in mind, I asked for several things: • they identify a group of students to help identify the specifics of the teaching exhibit, • we work with the School Board to develop a plan (they offered to contact another school in the area that has a Veterans program that might be similar), • the educational component reside at the school, • the School Board keep the EC on their agenda. • The next step for us is to follow up with the School Board in a few weeks to find out how they want to proceed. 5. Walkathon A Walkathon is planned once again for the first Saturday in June (June 5th). Lisa has made up fliers and sign-up sheets and will begin distributing them. The route will be the same as in the past. This has been a great fund-raiser for the memorial and we are all grateful to Lisa for thinking of it and making it happen for several years. 6. Comments from citizens Peter Korbet has submitted a third packet of comments. He states that he believes that the memorial should acquire a zoning permit before it is placed on the green. deForest and the Town Manager have both agreed that a zoning permit is not necessary for a monument. Peter's packet is on file in the committee's records if anyone chooses to view it. The committee agreed that topics to discuss at the next meeting should include the wording to be placed on the monument; granite benches on the green; the green as a memorial park; coverage of the project in the "Outlook", and the actual date of the dedication ceremony. 7. Next meeting date The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010. at 7:00 PM in the Town Office. At 7:42, Jeff Slade motioned to adjourn the meeting. Lisa Sargent seconded the motion and all were in favor. NOTE: Committee meetings will be held on the LAST Tuesday of every month unless otherwise noted. Respectfully submitted, deForest Bearse

Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:53