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Jim Johnson
www.GleasonOnline.com
(Left to Right) Mary Margaret Beasley, Rose Anderson, Chief of Police Jeff Hazelwood, Mayor Diane Poole, Scotty Corum, GDRC President, Charles Anderson, Andy Carroll, Jacky Esch, Jim Johnson, & Lynne Shores.
After receiving approval from the Gleason Board of Mayor and Alderman to construct the long-planned Memorial Wall at Gleason's Mike Snider Park on April 14th, 2016 representatives of the Gleason Downtown Revitalization Committee and the Gleason Rotary Club participated in a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, May 27th, 2016.
The location of this brick wall, will be near the main walkway to the park, in the vicinity of the children's play area. When completed, it will be some 80 feet in length, with brick flower boxes on each end. In the center of the wall will be a large rounded brick flower box that will feature a 40-foot tall flag pole proudly flying a large 8' by 12' American flag.
Special sections at each end of the wall, will contain Black Granite Memorial Stones (approximately 4 x 7 inches in size) that serve to remember family members or others who have passed, to honor others who should be remembered, or those who have in one way or the other provided significant support for this very special community project. A smaller section in the middle of the wall is reserved for memorial stones of those who have served in the military.
It should be noted that some 8,000 bricks for the construction of the wall have been provided by Boral Brick Company of Gleason. The concrete for the wall was provided by Gleason Clay Company (GCC: Cheryl Lehmkuhl, Plant Manager). The actual construction of the the wall represents a joint venture involving the Gleason Downtown Revitalization Committee and the Gleason Rotary Club.
Laying the Foundation for the Wall
Ronnie Lawrence Operating the Tractor; Jeff Hazelwood (in hoodie)
Bobby Hoskins Operating the Excavator
Laying Concrete: Randy Kent and Randy Stafford
The foundation for the wall was completed (with the help of Ronnie Lawrence Bobby Hoskins, Randy Kent and Randy Stafford) along with contributions of members of the Downtown Revitalization Committee and Rotary Club and a range of others who have contributed both their time, energy and skills to this endeavor.
The construction of the wall is currently underway, with skilled Gleason bricklayers Darrell Bell and David Hopper contributing their time and skills (in addition to their other work responsibilities) to finish the remaining work on the wall
Gleason Bricklayers Extraordinary
David Hopper and Darrell Bell
Foundation Completed:
Darrell and David begin Laying Brick With Others in a Supporting Role
Done for the first day - First Section of the Wall Behind Us !
Darrell Bell, David Hopper, Charles Anderson, Jim Johnson, Jeff Hazelwood
Food and General Support Group
Memorial Wall Update - October 2016!
Darrell Bell (L) - David Hopper (R)
Memorial Wall Update - April, 9 2017
Brick Layer, Darrell Bell, placed 108 Black Memorial bricks on the area of the wall located just above the right flower box.
He also placed another 72 Memorial bricks in the area of the wall located just above the Left flower box.
Memorial Wall Update - June 20, 2017
Today, members of the Gleason Downtown Revitalization make a major push toward the completion of the Mike Snider Park Memorial Wall.
With the help of Rodney Garner and his backhoe, the flower boxes at each end of the wall were filled with dirt making it possible to begin landscaping, using plants of contrasting colors (Soft Touch Holly and Purple Queens) against a white marble rock background.
Ross Chandler, owner of Performance Steel, volunteered his time and expertise with heavy machinery to dig the very large hole necessary to hold the ground sleeve for the forty-foot flag pole that will grace the center of the wall.
Ross Chandler digging the hole for the underground sleeve that will hold the flagpole
Jim Johnson
Ross Chandler (L) and Charles Anderson (R) - Making sure the underground sleeve is level
The next step involved filling the hole containing the underground sleeve with concrete and preparing the larger foundation that will support the accompanying granite stone and plaque associated with the flag.
Gary Doster (L) and Charles Anderson (R) - Making sure the concrete is distributed where it is needed.
Gary Doster (L) & Charles Anderson (R)-making sure the concrete, surrounding the flagpole is level.
Memorial Wall Update - July 20th, 2017
Raising the Flag
Today the Gleason Downtown Revitalization Committee took another major step toward the completion of the Mike Snider Park Memorial Wall.
With the help of Mr. Ross Chandler (owner of Gleason-based Performance Steel) and Jennifer Chandler, along with several members of the Downtown Revitalization Committee, we put up a 40 foot flagpole and raised a beautiful 8 x 12 American flag to grace the center of the wall.
This involved unpacking the two sections of the flag pole, placing the large gold decorative ball at the top of the pole and attaching the two sections of the pole and the ropes and other internal equipment necessary to raise and lower the flag.
Then, using heavy machinery manned by Mr. Chandler, the bottom of the flag pole was placed in the center of the large metal underground sleeve that had been prepared during our previous work day.
Jennifer Chandler (L) - Ross Chandler (R)
Rose Anderson with the Camera
After the pole was appropriately placed, the remaining space in the underground sleeve was filled with a special type of sand, designed to both keep the pole in place and protect it. After the pole was securely in place, the flag was raised for the first time, with the flag dedication stone being placed at the base of the flag.
Special thanks go to Mr. Chandler for this major contribution to the Memorial Wall; we could not have completed this project without his help.
Jennifer and Ross Chandler & Jim Johnson
Without skilled, caring and dedicated Gleason citizens who have voluntary contributed their time and efforts to the development of this Memorial Wall - none of the work completed to date would have been possible.
Memorial Wall Update - July 26th, 2017
Landscaping the Center Flower Box around the Flag
As was noted earlier, we have completed the initial landscaping of the flower boxes, located at the far left and far right ends of the wall.
Today we completed the landscaping of the large flower box located in the middle of the wall (containing the flag pole) using "soft touch holly" shrubs and "purple queens", with a white marble rock background.
With the flag pole now up and each of the flowerboxes having now been landscaped, remaining tasks involve placing brick caps on each of the brick posts that make up the wall and the placement of a number of previously purchased memorial bricks to fill the remaining space above the flower box on the far left side of the wall, as well as additional memorial bricks, for those being remembered for having served in the military - which will be placed in the center section of the wall located behind the the flag.
Memorial Wall Update - August 12, 2017:
Approaching Completion
Today our bricklayer, Darrell Bell, added a significant number of new memorial stones to the wall bringing us closer and closer to the wall's completion.
As indicated in an earlier update, all of the memorial stones for the right side of the wall (above the right flower box) had already been placed in this section (See below).
Today, all of the more recently purchased stones for the left side of the wall (above the left flower box) were added to those stones which had already been placed in this section (Pardon the reflection in this graphic).
Today, Darrell also added all of memorial bricks, for those individuals being remembered for having served in the military. These military service memorials were placed in the center section of the wall located directly behind the the flagpole.
At this point, the flag pole is now up with the flag proudly waving. All of the memorial bricks for both the right and left ends of the wall and the military section have now been placed. The flower boxes at each end of the wall and the center section, have been landscaped.
Remaining tasks involve completing the borders at the top of each of the three areas that contain the memorial stones and placing brick caps on each of the brick posts that make up the wall, in addition to some landscaping in the area around the wall.
Memorial Wall Update - August 28, 2017
Darrell Bell put the finishing touch on the wall on this date by completing the brick caps on each of the brick posts on the wall. Thank you Darrell for all of the work you have done on this wall !!!
Dedication Service for the Memorial Wall
Given the present stage of completion, the date for the Dedication Service for the Memorial Wall is scheduled to take place during the 2017 Tater Town Special celebration @ 4 pm on Saturday, September 2nd at Mike Snider Park.
CLICK ON LINKS TO SEE CLOSE UP OF MEMORIAL BRICKS IN VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE WALL
LEFT SIDE OF WALL - CENTER WALL - RIGHT SIDE OF WALL
Dedication Service for the Memorial Wall
The Dedication Service for the Memorial Wall is scheduled to take place during the 2017 Tater Town Special celebration @ 4 pm on Saturday, September 2nd at Mike Snider Park.
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