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Wednesday, November 8, 2017: Revision of the All Veterans Memorial in Brainerd has been a planning project for over 2-1/2 years. Above is what it looked like in January of 2017. The committee that put this project together included U.S. Army veteran Mike Williams, U.S. Army veteran Jerry Strobel, U.S. Navy veteran Mike Williams, U.S. Army veteran Steve Rosenow, U.S. Army veteran Mark Persons, retired Community Action coordinator Nancy Cross, Architect Mark Cross and more. |
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Project Architect Mark
Cross and Jerry Strobel helped set up a safety fence at the site on September
16th. Dave Meyer and Mike Williams removed shrubs that were then donated to the Northland Arb. |
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Ground was dug up to lay a
foundation for the memorial addition. Laser sighting was used
before concrete was poured. |
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More
forms went in and more concrete was poured. This was a well thought out
project. |
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The ground was leveled in preparation for ground work. That's Mark
Cross in the machine. He does everything. |
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Then
concrete curbing was poured just before the weather closed in. It snowed
on October 17th. |
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Face
stones were added. Little by little it was all coming together. (l-r) Mark Persons and Nancy Cross were interviewed by WWWI Radio in Brainerd by Rick Skogs on November 6th. The airtime was to announce the upcoming dedication of the memorial. |
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The Sand
was tamped down while paver bricks were brought in. |
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An
electrician was building lighting while workers were leveling the sand for the
pavers. |
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The
granite panels were delivered and brick laying started. There is a science
to this. |
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The bricks were laid with care by a dedicated crew. Those bricks are
plain, but ones with inscriptions can be purchased. Use this printable order form or go online for the donor brick program at: http://brickmarkersusa.com/donors/avm.html |
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Hmmm...the dimensions don't come out right. Hole location for steel pins
in the panels were not drilled to specifications. Then it took diamond tipped bits to drill the correct locations. A difficult job in sub-freezing temperatures on November 9th. |
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I hope these fit now! It was a huge effort, tirelessly coordinated by Mark
Cross. |
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Panel by panel the memorial took shape. That is snow on the left one as it
is being put in place in below freezing temperatures. Then there was mulch to be shoveled into place. The work seemed to go on and on. |
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One of the project challenges was finding granite panels that are the same color
as the original. Not easy, but they did it. |
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Finally it was ready enough the day before the
dedication ceremony
on Veterans Day, November 11th. Landscaping will be competed in the spring when warmer weather returns to the Northland. |
Quote of the day:
A big job. Mark
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Questions, Comments? Email Mark Persons teki@mwpersons.com |
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More about Gilbert Lodge |
page last edited 12/02/2017
