Rising costs, Mother Nature beaten down by strong support for Veterans Memorial Park

The Village of New Washington will hold a dedication ceremony celebrating the completion of its Veterans Memorial Park at 1 p.m. May 11 with a rain date of May 12.

The event will take place in and around the park at 102 W. Mansfield St. and include an address by Mayor Ben Lash, remarks from state Rep. Riordan McClain and performances by the New Washington Town Band and Buckeye Central High School Band.

Originally conceived in 2022 as a project of New Washington’s American Legion Post 405, the goal was to create a park that honored local veterans, reminded the community of the cost of freedom and taught future generations about the sacrifices made on their behalf.

The project received support throughout Crawford County and beyond. New Washington Village Council gave the park a home in a vacant lot beside the library on West Mansfield Street, Crawford Partnership offered strategic planning support and The Community Foundation for Crawford County provided a vehicle for donations through its Projects, Inc. Fund.

Challenges, funding and the mural

Dave Riedel, committee chair for the Veterans Memorial Park project, grew up in New Washington, left for a career in the Marine Corps and then at the Pentagon, and returned in 2019 to retire on the family farm.

"The project has definitely had a few challenges, like managing the rising cost of materials and not being able to control the weather,” Riedel said. “But those small struggles are nothing compared to the overwhelming support we’ve had from the New Washington area community.”

Funding for the $330,000 project came from hundreds of donors from across the country as well as local organizations that held fish fries, spaghetti dinners, pancake breakfasts and a golf scramble to support the park. The project has received grants and corporate donations from area businesses.

The first phase of the park project was completed in October 2022 with a mural painted on the library wall by Whitehouse, Ohio, muralist Dean Davis.

"A mural like this gives people a chance to reflect and have that feeling," Davis said in 2022 when he was working on the mural. "Being as this is kind of a background scene for the whole veterans park in itself, I think that's going to be just huge to see this thing fully develop."

He worked with park planners to develop some initial concepts for the mural, which Riedel shared on social media to get feedback from the community. That feedback resulted in a third design, which ultimately was selected in a vote by village council, according to a report in 2022.

Completion estimated for end of April

The second phase − which includes hardscaping and landscaping, installation of granite benches, memorials, fencing and flagpoles as well as resurfacing of a rear parking lot − is in the final stages and expected to be completed by the end of April.

Donations to the park may be made with a check made out to Projects, Inc. with New Washington Veterans Memorial Park Fund in the memo line and mailed to The Community Foundation for Crawford County, 254 E. Mansfield St., Bucyrus 44820, or at the Community Foundation website, cfcrawford.org. New Washington Veterans Memorial Park can be found under the Projects, Inc. Fund.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: New Washington Veterans Memorial Park heads toward May 12 dedication