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Fundraising on tap for Chelmsford veterans park

Wicked Local Northwest - 1/22/2019

Jan. 21--It's a place of celebration and ceremony and solemn remembrance.

Nestled into a wooded spot at 230 North Road, the Chelmsford Veterans Memorial Park bears witness to Chelmsford residents who have given military service, from the Revolutionary War to the present.

Granite columns bear their names, etched into stone for all time.

With the times changing, the Veterans Memorial Park Committee wants to expand the park, and install two additional columns on which to inscribe more names -- of veterans living and deceased.

"What we are trying to do is add a couple more stones to the park, up at the main section of the park," said Mike Kendrick, board president of the committee. "Everything has to be mirror-imaged," Kendrick said.

The memorial has a series of columns in ascending height on one side, and a series in descending height on the other.

There are more than 1,500 names inscribed currently on the columns. To add two more columns, one on either end, will accommodate 68 names on each of the two new pillars, Kendrick said.

The committee estimates the cost at $200 per name.

The committee has an informal unveiling date of Nov. 11, at the Veterans Day ceremony held each year at the park.

"First, we're gathering the names," Kendrick said. "We have about 25 names right now... we take an addition like this very seriously. We've done it a few times in the past. We would to like to preserve the integrity of the park as much as possible. It's a big undertaking."

The park officially opened July 3, 1992. It began as an idea with Vietnam War veteran Milton "Mike" Kinney, and other local veterans.

The park receives no town funds. The committee holds periodic fundraisers for the park's upkeep.

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