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Jim Johnson
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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