Manawa Area Veterans Freedom Park in works
By Holly Neumann
The Manawa Area Veterans Freedom Park Committee broke ground for their new park on Dec. 23.
“We have roughly 25 percent of our goal,” said John Smith, who heads the MAVFP committee. “This is actually slightly above what our first year budget was.”
According to Smith, the goal for 2017 will be to raise an additional $230,000.
“This will allow us to have the veterans memorial site completed and some primary work done on the family side,” said Smith. “We feel it is very important to show that we are working to complete this project as a whole unit, but we have a priority to get the veterans’ side done so that we can dedicate the park on Veterans Day of 2017. It is a very aggressive goal, but it is attainable.”
The park will pay tribute to those who have honorably served or are currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. The park will feature an octagon shaped memorial with a pentagon in the center holding an emblem from each of the five branches of service: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.
Flag poles will display the nation’s colors.
There will be a bridge from the memorial area to the family side of the park where there will be a new shelter house, pier, fishing docks that will all be handicap accessible and also playground equipment and a splash pad.
The 2017 fundraising campaign will kick off Jan. 28 with an ice fishing tournament on the Manawa Mill Pond.
Tickets for the fisheree are $10 and can be purchased at Suehs Service and Repair, Premier Community Bank, First State Bank, Midtown Bar, Manawa City Hall and Smith’s Steak House.
Monetary donations to the park can be mailed to: MAVFP, PO Box 247, Manawa, WI 54949.