MONROE - New veteran memorials are going up in several area communities.
The Darlington Area Veterans Memorial was erected on Monday, after nearly three years of planning and fundraising. It is being dedicated at 2 p.m. Sunday at Veterans Park on Main Street in Darlington, across from the Civil War statue.
The new granite memorial will take the place of a wooden WWII memorial that had become dilapidated and taken down.
"Different people asked why Darlington didn't have a memorial," said Dan O'Brien, a member of the memorial committee. "This one will not be torn down."
The memorial's design was a team effort by Darlington High School students and art teacher Greg Bykowski. The committee sorted through 22 different design concepts and choose aspects from four of them, which Bykowski combined into the final monument design.
On Memorial Day 2010, the committee announced its intentions to raise $250,000 to fund the memorial. Their goal was to raise the money in three to five years. The community pulled together, with several generous donations to boost the efforts, and raised the money in two years.
Among the funding were the donations from the memorial fund of Army Spc. Jakob Roelli, a Darlington native killed in 2011 while serving with Army Special Forces in Afghanistan.
O'Brien said a number of people who served with Roelli are coming back for the memorial dedication.
Guest speaker will be State American Legion Adjutant David Kurtz. The Darlington High School band and choir will also be there with songs and music. The event is open to the public, and all local veterans are invited to attend.
Monticello has also erected its area veterans memorial, but it will not be dedicated until next spring, according to Harold Babler.
A memorial that was erected in the Zwingli Church cemetery after WWII is "going to pieces," Babler said, and the community "thought it would be a good idea to have a new one."
The new monument is located in the Montesian Gardens on the west of town, along Wisconsin 69. "We thought it would be a good place for it; one helps the other," Babler said.
A committee of American Legion and Monticello Community Club members has been working on the idea for seven years, and is still raising funds to pay for the memorial and bricks that hold the names of Monticello and Monticello area veterans. So far 60 names have been collected, and Babler is expecting more.
Donations can be sent to Harold Babler 938-4088, or left at the Bank of Monticello. Application for bricks can also be obtained at the bank.
The Green County Veterans Memorial is still under construction. Members of that group have raised the flags of the five military services and POWs, as well as the American flag, next to the memorial's tank in Pleasant View Park north of Monroe on Wisconsin 59.
The committee is still working to procure a helicopter to add to the park, as well as raising funds to create a memorial walkway and entrance marker. The site will also feature engraved bricks and benches, according to committee member Donna Douglas.
Many local organizations and individuals have already contributed time, energy and money to the project, she added.
"A lot of work goes on behind the scenes that people don't know about," she added.
More information about purchasing engraved bricks and making donations to the Green County veterans memorial can be obtained by calling (608) 527-2942.
The Darlington Area Veterans Memorial was erected on Monday, after nearly three years of planning and fundraising. It is being dedicated at 2 p.m. Sunday at Veterans Park on Main Street in Darlington, across from the Civil War statue.
The new granite memorial will take the place of a wooden WWII memorial that had become dilapidated and taken down.
"Different people asked why Darlington didn't have a memorial," said Dan O'Brien, a member of the memorial committee. "This one will not be torn down."
The memorial's design was a team effort by Darlington High School students and art teacher Greg Bykowski. The committee sorted through 22 different design concepts and choose aspects from four of them, which Bykowski combined into the final monument design.
On Memorial Day 2010, the committee announced its intentions to raise $250,000 to fund the memorial. Their goal was to raise the money in three to five years. The community pulled together, with several generous donations to boost the efforts, and raised the money in two years.
Among the funding were the donations from the memorial fund of Army Spc. Jakob Roelli, a Darlington native killed in 2011 while serving with Army Special Forces in Afghanistan.
O'Brien said a number of people who served with Roelli are coming back for the memorial dedication.
Guest speaker will be State American Legion Adjutant David Kurtz. The Darlington High School band and choir will also be there with songs and music. The event is open to the public, and all local veterans are invited to attend.
Monticello has also erected its area veterans memorial, but it will not be dedicated until next spring, according to Harold Babler.
A memorial that was erected in the Zwingli Church cemetery after WWII is "going to pieces," Babler said, and the community "thought it would be a good idea to have a new one."
The new monument is located in the Montesian Gardens on the west of town, along Wisconsin 69. "We thought it would be a good place for it; one helps the other," Babler said.
A committee of American Legion and Monticello Community Club members has been working on the idea for seven years, and is still raising funds to pay for the memorial and bricks that hold the names of Monticello and Monticello area veterans. So far 60 names have been collected, and Babler is expecting more.
Donations can be sent to Harold Babler 938-4088, or left at the Bank of Monticello. Application for bricks can also be obtained at the bank.
The Green County Veterans Memorial is still under construction. Members of that group have raised the flags of the five military services and POWs, as well as the American flag, next to the memorial's tank in Pleasant View Park north of Monroe on Wisconsin 59.
The committee is still working to procure a helicopter to add to the park, as well as raising funds to create a memorial walkway and entrance marker. The site will also feature engraved bricks and benches, according to committee member Donna Douglas.
Many local organizations and individuals have already contributed time, energy and money to the project, she added.
"A lot of work goes on behind the scenes that people don't know about," she added.
More information about purchasing engraved bricks and making donations to the Green County veterans memorial can be obtained by calling (608) 527-2942.