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Carefree Truth
Issue #846, August 3, 2020
Issue #846, August 3, 2020
During Current Events at the July meeting Mike Ferrell, leader of the team of local veterans that is designing and installing the new Carefree Memorial Monument in the Carefree Desert Gardens, presented the design and progress to the Council. Below is the email he submitted to the Zoom meeting, but he spoke live as well. You can hear him and see the pictures of the Displays in our video.
https://vimeo.com/436327523
"Good afternoon to all. I am Mike Ferrell and I am a member of a team of five Carefree area veterans who are working to build a Veterans Memorial in the Carefree Desert Gardens. I was asked to give this presentation today as an update on our progress.
Before I do that I will go over a little bit of the history of the project. Last fall I was contacted by Lyn Hichon who is the president of our Sentinel Rock HOA. Lyn informed me that Vice Mayor John Crane wanted to pull together a team of Carefree area veterans to construct a Veterans Memorial in the Desert Gardens. Lyn knew I was a veteran and asked if I would like to be part of the team. Of course, I said yes. Shortly after that I met with Vice Mayor Crane and we began to discuss the details of the project. We recruited four other area veterans and began a conceptual design for the memorial as well as selecting a location in the Desert Gardens.
Throughout the later part of last year we made good progress with the design and location. We took a break during December as many of us were traveling during the holidays. We reconvened in mid-January and finalized the design and location and put up a web site so individuals/organizations could make donations.
Display 2 Conceptual Design-Web Info-Veterans.docx
Our intent was to begin a serious fund-raising drive in early April but, well we all know what happened in March. The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown a curve our way and we are working around it.
So, that is a bit of history for you. As far as the current state of the project goes I can tell you that we are moving ahead. Next Sunday, July 12th, we will install a 20’ flagpole which will be lighted during the dark hours. The flagpole will display the American flag and the POW MIA flag. The flagpole will be placed on the left-hand side as you enter the area. Bob Jenkins, who is a member of our team, approached Flagpole Today located in Peoria and asked them for pricing. The owner’s response was don’t worry, I got this. Flagpole Today is donating the flagpole and installation. A value of $1,230. Devin Smith, a local Boy Scout, has taken this on as his Eagle Scout project and will oversee the installation with assistance from Flagpole Today.
Display 3 Benches.jpg
We have ordered and received three 5’ benches. The benches are made from recycled plastic and carry a 50-year guarantee. We have assembled them and they are sitting in my garage waiting for the appropriate time for them to be installed.
Display 4 Stone.jpg
We have ordered the rustic beam stone and it has arrived. There are 3 slabs. When in place they will be 7’, 6’, & 5.5’ above ground. The stone facing the entry will contain a plaque. The other two stones will be placed at angles behind the entry stone. The stone memorial will be up lit with LED lighting controlled by a sensor. On at night off during the day. Each of those stones will contain 3 plaques honoring the six branches of service. Yes, the newly created Space Agency will be represented.
Display 5 Front stone and plaque copy.pdf
The bronze plaques have been ordered and should arrive in mid-July. They are 12” bronze disks.
Display 6 Plaque examples.jpg
Our current challenge is funding the project. We estimated $50k and to date we have collected funds totaling $6,977 and donations of labor/materials totaling $1,420 or 16.79% of our goal. Because of the Covid-19 situation we felt it would be inappropriate to approach businesses and individuals in Carefree at this time. We will cover the costs as we move forward in July and conduct fund raising later when the Covid-19 situation eases.
We will work our way through this and we do plan on the memorial being completed in mid to late July."
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.
https://vimeo.com/436327523
"Good afternoon to all. I am Mike Ferrell and I am a member of a team of five Carefree area veterans who are working to build a Veterans Memorial in the Carefree Desert Gardens. I was asked to give this presentation today as an update on our progress.
Before I do that I will go over a little bit of the history of the project. Last fall I was contacted by Lyn Hichon who is the president of our Sentinel Rock HOA. Lyn informed me that Vice Mayor John Crane wanted to pull together a team of Carefree area veterans to construct a Veterans Memorial in the Desert Gardens. Lyn knew I was a veteran and asked if I would like to be part of the team. Of course, I said yes. Shortly after that I met with Vice Mayor Crane and we began to discuss the details of the project. We recruited four other area veterans and began a conceptual design for the memorial as well as selecting a location in the Desert Gardens.
Throughout the later part of last year we made good progress with the design and location. We took a break during December as many of us were traveling during the holidays. We reconvened in mid-January and finalized the design and location and put up a web site so individuals/organizations could make donations.
Display 2 Conceptual Design-Web Info-Veterans.docx
Our intent was to begin a serious fund-raising drive in early April but, well we all know what happened in March. The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown a curve our way and we are working around it.
So, that is a bit of history for you. As far as the current state of the project goes I can tell you that we are moving ahead. Next Sunday, July 12th, we will install a 20’ flagpole which will be lighted during the dark hours. The flagpole will display the American flag and the POW MIA flag. The flagpole will be placed on the left-hand side as you enter the area. Bob Jenkins, who is a member of our team, approached Flagpole Today located in Peoria and asked them for pricing. The owner’s response was don’t worry, I got this. Flagpole Today is donating the flagpole and installation. A value of $1,230. Devin Smith, a local Boy Scout, has taken this on as his Eagle Scout project and will oversee the installation with assistance from Flagpole Today.
Display 3 Benches.jpg
We have ordered and received three 5’ benches. The benches are made from recycled plastic and carry a 50-year guarantee. We have assembled them and they are sitting in my garage waiting for the appropriate time for them to be installed.
Display 4 Stone.jpg
We have ordered the rustic beam stone and it has arrived. There are 3 slabs. When in place they will be 7’, 6’, & 5.5’ above ground. The stone facing the entry will contain a plaque. The other two stones will be placed at angles behind the entry stone. The stone memorial will be up lit with LED lighting controlled by a sensor. On at night off during the day. Each of those stones will contain 3 plaques honoring the six branches of service. Yes, the newly created Space Agency will be represented.
Display 5 Front stone and plaque copy.pdf
The bronze plaques have been ordered and should arrive in mid-July. They are 12” bronze disks.
Display 6 Plaque examples.jpg
Our current challenge is funding the project. We estimated $50k and to date we have collected funds totaling $6,977 and donations of labor/materials totaling $1,420 or 16.79% of our goal. Because of the Covid-19 situation we felt it would be inappropriate to approach businesses and individuals in Carefree at this time. We will cover the costs as we move forward in July and conduct fund raising later when the Covid-19 situation eases.
We will work our way through this and we do plan on the memorial being completed in mid to late July."
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.