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New London plans vets memorial

The New London Veterans Memorial Foundation continues to make progress.

Charter members of the foundation held their second official meeting Nov. 6 to discuss potential sites for a new memorial in the city. They also solidified plans for a bus tour of other sites in the area.

The group consists of representatives from each local veteran’s organization and other interested citizens.

Meetings are open to the public, and dates are generally planned on the first Thursday of the month, for 6 p.m. at the VFW Hall in New London.

The foundation voted in officers at their first meeting in late October.

Jim Jaeger was voted as Adjutant/Secretary, Ed Strite as Vice Chair, and Terry Warning as Treasurer, along with Chairman James Massonet.

Discussion at last Thursday’s meeting largely revolved around site selection.

“It was an interesting meeting; we were debating each site, and started the process of eliminating. We ended up with kind of a list of five or six sites to bring towards city council for their input,” said Chairman James Massonet.

They currently are looking at potential sites in Franklin Park, Floral Hill, a corner lot at Beacon and Mill Streets, Taft Park, and they discussed the former Curt’s Barber Shop property and available land along Wolf River Avenue.

“Of course we have to check with the city administrator to find out their plans and the availability of each site, and then seek council approval,” said Massonet. The work of narrowing down the number of sites to one is ongoing.

Massonet reported the first two meetings were well attended.

“So far it’s been going very nice, and the people have been great,” he said.

“We’re encouraging everyone and anyone who wishes to be involved to do so,” said Massonet. “It’s a community effort that we can all be proud of. I’d like to see us overflow the place.”

The group planned a bus tour of veteran’s memorials for next Tuesday, Nov. 18. The bus will leave the VFW Hall at 9 a.m. and make stops in Chilton, Kaukauna, Omro and Clintonville.

Massonet reported that Secretary Jim Jaeger is organizing the tour. He can be reached at [email protected].

The group continues to build its list of contacts daily. Reminders are sent out prior to each meeting. To be included on the list, contact James Massonet at [email protected] or call 920-982-3060.

The committee is still in the early stages of the planning process.

“Once we have the sites zeroed in, then we’ll approach the council and go from there,” said Massonet.

“Then we’ll have to decide what it’s going to be, look at plans, costs, and future fundraising efforts,” he said.

“We’re glad to have anyone who is interested be part of this project. We’re looking for as many people in the community to get involved as we can,” said Massonet. “There is a lot of work ahead of us.”

The next meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4 at the VFW.

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