Letters to the Editor August 12

Worthwhile trip to D.C.  to visit with service people

American Legion Post 178 would like to thank all who participated in Operation Thank You Wounded Warrior II.

A special thanks goes to Patty “O,” Linda Hogan, Bob Boyles, Russell Boyles and Legionnaire Larry Sands, who cooked in temperatures pushing 115 degrees in front of the grills for three hours.

To Charlene Mayville, president of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 178 and her officers in attendance, Molly Jenks, Linda Eckler and Marie Barnum, thanks for your selfless service to our servicemen and women. The event would not have gone off as well as it did without you all.

     To Junior Auxiliary members  Katie Eckler, Sarah Eckler, Emma Jenks and Kelsey Jenks, along with Stone Scasso and Jake and Daniel Wolfe, who entertained all the children who are at Walter Reed Army Medical Center with their wounded mothers or fathers, thank you.

     Thank you to members of the Pine Plains VFW and the Marine Corps League in North Canaan for your participation.

     I’d like to thank John Wolfe for again donating his services as bus driver and delivering us safely to and from Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

     There are more than 45 volunteers we would like to give our heartfelt thanks to as well. I, along with Legion officers in attendance Lee Garay, Don Barnum, Stan Chase, Sean Klay and Larry Sands, would like recognize you for your motivation and caring contribution to the team and were humbled by your outstanding service to our nation’s Wounded Warriors.

      A special thanks goes to Larry Sands, who worked tirelessly for months procuring donations for the trip, and to Sid Byron, who secured significant financial assistance.

This entire trip would not haven been possible without the help of the Tri-State Community. To the numerous citizens and businesses who recognized the need and gave generously without hesitation, we say thank you.

May God bless you and the United States of America.

Robert D. Jenks,

Commander

American Legion Post 178

Millerton, N.Y.

 

 

Soldiers’ Monument brings back memories

In the July 15 edition of The Winsted Journal was an article about the Soldiers’ Monument on Crown Street in Winsted. As part of the story you had a picture of my wife, Sandy, and me as we were exiting the monument. I thank you for that.

It was the first time we had ever been inside the monument. It was interesting for me to see the names of the local men who took part in the Civil War. My Grandfather Hart told me many long years ago that the name of of one of my ancestors was listed on the roll of honor. There are three Harts listed. One of which is Timothy Hart, and I have reason to believe that I am related to him. I intend to research this to be sure.

We were not allowed to the highest level of the monument. I guess there are safety concerns. This is unfortunate as the trees around the monument have grown so tall that there is virtually no view. It was also sad to see the “fountain” — one could hardly call it that now, converted to a garden and the sculpture not sitting in its proper position.

I’m not sure of the year, but it was in the late 1970s. I worked for a contractor by the name of John Passini, called Jack by many people. Jack lived in Colebrook, as I do. Most of our work was residential construction and it was a pleasant change when he was hired to build the pool and pedestal for the sculpture. The piece was titled Axis Mundi and was created by an artist by the name of Andrew Capolla. If my memory serves, the pool was 16 feet in diameter.

At that time the monument was not open to anyone; as I recall, steel bands were put around the pedestal that the soldier stands on to keep it in place. It is really great that this situation was corrected.

We had to build the concrete forms to create the proper shape for the round pool and consult with the artist as to the proper position of the square pedestal. A square peg in a round hole so to speak.

The plumbers hired to pipe the pool were Reno Groppo and Clayton Webb. Reno, better known as Moose, was a gentle giant of a man with a keen sense of humor and a ready smile.

When the sculptor was explaining how we should place the pedestal, he said he wanted the sculpture to point to a tree on a nearby hill. All of us kind of laughed because the hill was covered with thousands of trees and to pick out one seemed nearly impossible.

But not for Moose, who almost immediately said, “I know which one he means.”

Even Mr. Capolla seemed surprised at Moose’s response and he he said almost incredulously,“You do?”

To which Moose responded, “Sure. The one with the cockatoo in it.”

This prompted a great deal of laughter, but Mr. Capolla assured us that Moose was correct. As we looked up at the hill and the trees, after a while we could all see one tree that had the rough shape of a bird’s head in its branches.

Unfortunately Reno “Moose” Groppo and Jack Passini are no longer living. But I recently had a nice conversation with Clayton Webb, who is still active in the plumbing business.

Webby and I talked for several minutes about the pool and how sad it is that it has been so terribly vandalized.

When it came time to make the pour, Jack enlisted the aid of John Bascetta to help with the finishing. This proved to be a very wise move as John is a mason and much more adept at finishing concrete than me.

All in all, I think we created something in which we could take pride. Too bad it didn’t last longer.

Francis “Butch” Jasmin

Colebrook

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