Mayor Thanks Residents for Donating to Project
In a little more than three months, the village will finally unveil its upgraded veterans’ memorial to honor the many brave men and women who have served our country. Last week, the village board unanimously approved expenditures not to exceed $20,000 for the complete installation of a new and improved monument in time for Memorial Day.
Early in 2010, under the leadership of Committee Chair and Village Board Trustee Dennis Donnelly and a committee of residents and trustees, a plan was designed to upgrade, rehabilitate and relocate the current veterans’ memorial.
Vietnam veteran and Garden City resident Cyril Smith originally proposed the idea in January of 2010 as a way to pay homage to those veterans who lost their lives in wartime. The new memorial will be placed opposite the current WWII War Memorial on Seventh Street in the village.
The structure will feature five new plaques, one for WWI, one for Korea, one for Vietnam, one for Iraq and Afghanistan and one for the Garden City Medal of Honor winners. The plaques will each measure 2 feet by 1 foot 6 inches in size. In addition, the WWII plaque will also be moved to the new site.
Trustee Andrew Cavanaugh thanked the board’s subcommittee and Mr. Smith for their contributions and work on the project. “I think it will result in a very fitting and very appropriate memorial, and a reminder to us of the activity of our citizens in our armed conflicts,” Cavanaugh said.
In November of 2010, Mayor Robert J. Rothschild encouraged the community to help participate in the project through charitable donations. During last week’s meeting, the mayor praised the residents who have already contributed to the project and indicated that additional donations are still welcome.
“I want to thank the members of that committee who worked very diligently,” the mayor said. “We also have still raised some funds, I don’t have the final number yet, from our very generous residents who have taken the opportunity to donate funds for the completion of this memorial and we still are accepting checks. But I want to thank all the trustees for working hard and getting that done,” the mayor added.
Checks can be made out to the “Incorporated Village of Garden City,” with “War Memorial Fund” in the subject line.
