Kaukauna Veterans Memorial Park Association Meeting Minutes – August 5, 2015

Council Chambers
August 5, 2015

A meeting of the Kaukauna Veterans Memorial Park Association was called to order at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 5, 2015, by President Rosin.

Members Present: Mayor Gene Rosin, Brian Roebke, Lisa Wolfinger, Brenda Leon, Karen Koch, Fred Cazzola, Mark Landreman, Troy Hanson, Eugene Schaefer.

Absent and Excused: Andréa Meulemans.

1.    Absent and Excused: A motion to excuse the absent was made by Gene Rosin, seconded by Leon. All members voted aye. Motion carried.

2.    Minutes. A motion was made by Gene Rosin to approve and place on file the minutes of April 29, 2015. Seconded by Leon. All members voted aye. Motion carried.

3.    Benches. Schaefer introduced Dick Vanderloop from the VFW. Dick and Gary Wolf are purchasing a bench for the Ring of Honor in memory of Tom Otte, the only Kaukauna resident killed in action in the Viet Nam War. Dick served with Tom. He stated that Kaukauna has an obligation to honor all Veterans and an obligation to honor one of Kaukauna’s own. Dick feels it’s important to place the benches that will honor a Veteran inside the Ring of Honor rather than in the green space that is around the ROH. When the benches are ready, Dick and Gary will travel to Sturtevant to pick them up to save the $150 shipping fee. One bench will be donated by the American Legion and one will be donated by Gary and Dick. The City will donate the concrete pads. Plans are to move the Unison Credit Union bench and the school bench to the green space. Only military benches will be placed inside the ring. (Dick was excused at 4:20 pm from the meeting.)

    Six benches will be the maximum allowed as donations to the Park. If interested parties would like to make donations (other than for a bench), an idea would be to give a monetary gift to be used towards flags and/or maintenance of the park. Mayor Rosin and Karen will draft a letter to the Credit Union and Schools informing them of the Committee’s intentions to move the benches. A motion was made by Brian Roebke to accept the bench donation from the American Legion Post as well as a bench from Gary Wolf and Dick Vanderloop in honor of Thomas Otte and moving the Schools and Credit Union benches presently inside the ROH with their blessing. Further, that there will be no more movement of benches in the Ring following their installation in the future. Motion was seconded by Schaefer. All members voted aye. Motion carried. (A suggestion was made to meet at the ROH for the next meeting to look over the area and decide where the benches should be placed.)

    Hanson shared a drawing of what the American Legion will be putting on their bench with the group. The group agreed that the design was appropriate for the ROH.

    The white crosses were discussed. If/when they begin to rot, the bottoms will be cut off and a rod attached. They will then be put back in the ground.

4.    Picnic tables. With the decision made to move the Credit Union’s bench and the school’s bench into the green area, the picnic table discussion was postponed. Kwik Trip has picnic tables that we have permission to use.

5.    Message Center. Installed with map displayed and instructions for locating bricks. Don Krause (KU and KK IT Director) and his wife, Carrie, will be creating a QR code to direct people more quickly to the information for the bricks.

    There was discussion regarding asking funeral homes to suggest the purchase of bricks to memorialize Veterans who pass. Hanson volunteered to draft a letter for the funeral homes to provide to families suggesting they consider a brick purchase with their memorial funds. He will write the letter and present it to the Directors of the four area funeral homes.

6.    Rides for Veterans. Hanson presented information he received for Rides for Veterans and asked that it be put on the website for assistance. (It has been published on the City’s web site and Facebook page.)

The next meeting will be held at the Veteran’s Memorial Park to discuss moving the school’s bench and Credit Union’s bench. Additionally, sending a letter to the Schools and Credit Union will be discussed at that time.

A motion to adjourn was made by the Mayor, seconded by Leon. All members voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 5:00 PM.

Submitted by:

Karen Koch, KVMPA Secretary