Jerry Price, Rotarian of the Day invited Michael Durbin, head of the recently formed Winn Veterans’ Memorial Association, to update Winnfield’s Rotary members on the progress of the planning and construction of the Winn Veterans’ Memorial.
Mr. Durbin is a native of Winn Parish and manager of local transportation business, Gulfcoast Express. The veterans memorial project has been in the works for several years now, and at last some tangible developments have been accomplished. Michael, along with a group of others with interest in the project as well as Winnfield’s Main Street project, have formed the Winn Veterans’ Memorial Association, a nonprofit organization which will own the memorial and the real estate on which it’s located and raise money to fund the construction of the memorial.
According to Mr. Durbin, Winn’s memorial will be the finest in the state of Louisiana. The location will be the old U.B. Carpenter’s dry goods store next to City Hall on Main Street, which has been donated by Steve and Gail Shelton. The memorial will be open air with a beautiful marble front leaving large open spaces for entry and sharing a wall with a building ultimately intended to house military and veterans’ memorabilia and information.
Demolition will be done in the next week or two, with those services donated by a generous local contractor who chooses to remain anonymous. Mayor Gerald Hammons has committed to dispose of the demolished materials at no charge to the memorial association or the contractor.
The interior will have a brick floor and house a set of six sculptures: the center sculpture will feature a mother kneeling in prayer, which will be surrounded by sculptures of a member of each branch of our U.S. military—the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard. The public may purchase bricks to replace those in the original installation in memory of any veteran anywhere, with the name and years of service for each. Winn Parish veterans’ bricks will be placed in a special pathway.
The WVMA is committed to making this memorial a project of the people of Winn Parish rather than seeking donations in large amounts by one person or organization, so that it is a community memorial and not identified with one person. The entire project is estimated to cost between $150,000 and $300,000.
What can we as individuals do to help with the project? Anyone can become a member of the association and pay annual dues of $35. This money will be used to maintain the structure and sculptures and cover insurance and other maintenance costs. The public can also participate in raffles and other fundraisers being held periodically.
Anyone can make a donation to the WVMA at Sabine Bank, Venmo: @WinnWMA, PayPal: Chevallierwvma@yahoo.com or by mailing a check payable to WVMA to:
Winn Veterans Memorial Association
P.O. Box 823
Winnfield, LA 71483