By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
Two years of design, planning and work came into public view on Wednesday morning on the Crawford County Courthouse lawn. Longstreth Memorial, under the watchful eyes of Chuck Christman, president of the Crawford County Veterans Hall of Fame, and Don Scheerer, the organization’s secretary-treasurer, began the arduous process of setting the new Veteran’s Memorial Monument.
“We’re glad it’s almost done,” Christman said with a chuckle.
“Hopefully in another two weeks,” estimated Sean Longstreth of Longstreth Memorials who designed and built the impressive memorial that sits on the southeast corner of the courthouse lawn. “We’ll have the landscaping and the rest of the pavers in. The (center) monument will be set by noon today.”
However, that completion date came into question several minutes later when one of five triangular columns bearing the names of those who have been inducted into the Veterans Hall of Fame slipped from its cradle of straps while being hoisted into place. The column crashed to the pavers below, breaking off pieces on the top and bottom of the column and breaking a paver. There was no word on the time needed for replacement or repair.
Longstreth described the display, which will include a center monument in a pentagon shape to represent the five branches of military service. From the center monument there are paths extending out to the triangular columns and each column is inscribed with the classes and names of those inducted into the Crawford County Veterans Hall of Fame.
The center monument and outlying columns rest on concrete pads and are surrounded by brick pavers that are inscribed by those contributing to the project. The process for setting the monument and columns began by first placing lumps of adhesive in place on the pads as well as chunks of dry ice. Then each individual stone piece is carefully lowered onto the dry ice. As the ice melts, it lowers the heavy stone down onto the adhesive in place.
“We’ve got 90 (more) pavers coming in next week,” Christman said. “We’ve already had to add more space.”
The project is designed so that it can be extended down the Walnut Street side of the courthouse. A dedication ceremony is tentatively planned for August.
Both Scheerer and Christman emphasized the Hall of Fame is still accepting orders for pavers as well as actively seeking more nominations for the Hall of Fame. The pavers can be ordered by calling Christman at 419-562-4740 or Scheerer at 419-562-9789.
Information on the pavers and the nomination process can be found online at www.ccvhof.org.
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