Veterans Park paver sales continue
PUTNAM — The Veterans Park is stunning --- but it's not finished yet.
After the last three monuments were installed late last year, Veterans Advisory Committee (VAC) chair and leader of the Veterans Park project Rob Challinor said commemorative pavers are still for sale.
The last addition of commemorative pavers was done last November by the masonry students from H.H. Ellis Tech. The total number of pavers in the Court of Honor is almost 2,300.
There are more veterans to honor with pavers and still to come are the bronze plates listing about 1400 names for the WWII monuments (there are two monuments). The style will match the bronze plates on the WWI monument. Cast bronze is a complicated, expensive process that involves creating molds and castings. The cost is about $60,000.
With the exception of about $11,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funding from the town for the irrigation system, the massive amount of work done at the park has come from donations (both monetary and in-kind), paver purchases, grants and more. Challinor said, “The entire community created this,” Challinor said.
The commemorative veteran pavers are still for sale and the deadline to order is Feb. 1. Pavers will continue to be sold each year from Nov. 11 through Feb. 1.
The price for an 8” x 4” gray concrete brick with black engraving is $100 each in cash or check made payable to the Putnam Veterans Advisory Committee (VAC).
Two layout choices are available, with three lines available on each brick: 1st Layout with alpha and numeric characters only. 20 TOTAL spaces available per line and blank spaces and punctuation are counted as spaces.
2nd Layout with alpha and numeric characters AND a military logo. 15 TOTAL spaces available per line and blank spaces and punctuation are counted as spaces.
Not sure what to put on your brick? Enjoy a quick walk through the park, on the corner of Church and Bridge streets for inspiration and ideas. Congregation B’nai Shalom has been a generous neighbor throughout this project and offers their parking lot for visitors to use when they do not have their own service or activity going on.
With an enormous amount of service from the area, there are more veterans to be honored in the park. The Putnam VAC wants to include them all.
With the cooperation of Mother Nature, volunteers, and Ellis Tech masonry students, these pavers will be added to the park by late spring.
Find downloadable and printable forms at the Town website on the VAC webpage: https://www.putnamct.us/government/commissions/veterans-advisory-committee
Orders and payment can be mailed or returned to the VAC c/o Putnam Veteran Services Office, 200 School St, 2nd Floor, Putnam CT 06260.
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