?Veterans Memorial Garden? project to go in before Memorial Day
The largest project in a major landscaping overhaul to the front of the Onaway Area Community Schools building is ready to begin.
The ?Let Freedom Ring: Veterans Memorial Garden? will be to be constructed between now and Memorial Day by the Stepping Stones Garden Club of Onaway.
It will be located between the recently repainted Onaway Area Community School sign and superintendent Bob Szymoniak?s office windows.
The Memorial Garden will include a five-sided oblelisk, which will display mosaic tiles, plaques from each branch of the military, as well as other patriotic decorations. It?ll be about four- to five-feet tall. A preliminary design was in place, but a few modifications were probably going to be made.
Two memorial brick paths will lead to the obelisk and will be flanked by two concrete benches.
Along with the spring flowers finally coming into bloom, there will be a lot happening on the front lawn of the school building during the next four weeks.
THE PROJECT needs to be completed before the Memorial Day dedication. The ceremony will take place after the annual observance at the Onaway Courthouse. No trees will be removed as part of the project.
Members of the Stepping Stones Garden Club (SSGC) wrote a grant through the Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan and were awarded $1,000.
?We had to come up with matching funds from the community, which we did,? said club member Kay McInnes. ?Then, we wrote a grant through Communities First for $3,500. We received $1,750 to start the irrigation system at the school.?
The irrigation system was installed last fall, with the grounds around the Media Center still showing the scars of the excavation.
LeeAnn Ayotte said the irrigation project paid dividends, as the grass within range of the sprinklers was greener than in other places not receiving water.
The group will be looking for additional funding to continue the installation of the irrigation system on the central office/elementary school side of the main walkway to the school.
ONE OF THE stipulations of receiving the grant for the Memorial Garden was it had to be placed in front of a school or a public space.
?One of the reasons we chose the school is to connect the younger people with the Veterans,? said Ayotte. ?Onaway schools already have a wonderful Veterans program that goes on every year. So, we are tying the older people with the younger people too.?
McInnes said, ?A lot of the people who come to Onaway, come here. They
The PTO has been selling memorial bricks, which will match the color of the bricks around the base of the flag pole.
Moran Iron Works has donated some material to the project and the Onaway art students are working on the mosaic tiles. ?The bricks will be installed in the coming weeks,? said Ayotte.
The Garden Club will be inviting State Rep. Matt Gillard and State Sen. Jason Allen, as well as Gov. Jennifer Granholm. A spring clean-up day is being planned prior to the ceremony, to rake the grounds and bring in some mulch.
The schools have chipped in $1,000 to help with the landscaping, and have assisted with the work.