POTTSTOWN >> Although plans for the second annual Veterans Community Day on Saturday are pretty exciting – there is more planning going on than for just a one-day event.
In addition to the events planned for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. amid the war memorials in Memorial Park, plans to transform the “island” in Memorial Park into “Veterans’ Island,” were also recently unveiled to borough council.
In addition to the veteran’s ceremonies and awards in Memorial Park, the community day will feature a Sly Fox biergarten and mini-Kan-Jam, a moon bounce and face painting, a YMCA obstacle course, games, door prizes and a Roller Derby Girls dunk tank.
Additionally, a motorcycle ride will kick off the event in Birdsboro, with a ride down Route 724 into Memorial Park, where riders will escort this year’s honorees to the starting ceremonies.
This year’s honorees are:* Joseph Howard – He served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946. He was a signalman aboard the USS Boyle and USS Planter, during World War II. Missions included the preparation and invasion of Hiroshima in the Pacific. He returned and worked as a local butcher, preparing meats at a Charlotte and High Street business
* Lawrence Belz – A lieutenant in the Navy, Belz graduated from Villanova University and received his ensign commission in 1944. He completed his military training at Harvard University and U.S. Marine Camp Pendleton. Missions included ashore and operations of flight squadron, Okinawa 1945. His experiences included kamikaze attacks, typhoons, the atom bomb on Aug. 6-9 1945, peace mission, occupation of Japan then to Guam. Belz went back home and continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania. His wife is Ramona and he is retired from Cabot Inc. outside of Boyertown.
* The late Sandy Laghi, who died Aug. 20. – He served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army, 653 Engineer Detachment from 1945 to 1946. He was a Pottstown policeman, owned a plumbing business and was married to Mary Sperat Laghi of Pottstown.
Each will be presented with a “Glass Tear Hero Award,” designed by Randy Doaty “to honor those local patriots who answered the call when their country needed them; who returned home and served as an example to others of what it means to live a life of honor and respect for both your community and country.”
William Hurter will receive a special award. He is 100 years old and a Navy veteran of World War II.
Visitors are invited to bring their own photo to a Heroes Wall that will be set up during the event.
Just bring a picture of a friend, family member, or any loved one who is also a veteran, from any era, to put up on the wall with his/her name written on the photo. Please bring only copies of the photographs, as they cannot be returned. Pens and paper will be available if you want to write a note about your vet to post on the wall. Photos, plus any note you would like to share, must fit in an 8×10 space.
The community day event coincides with the Second Annual Latino Festival, which will be held in Riverfront Park from 12 to 5 p.m. and a free shuttle bus will carry visitors between the two.
But even when the events are over and everyone has gone home, planning for the island will continue.
As volunteer Cathy Paretti outlined for council at the Sept. 6 council meeting, the intention of the Veterans’ Island project is to transform the island at Memorial Park into a tribute to American veterans, by developing projects aimed at improving and maintaining the island area.
Paretti said the memorial with which most park visitors are familiar is the large Vietnam War Memorial and the more recently installed World War II Memorial.
But plaques are beginning to fall off the later, and work needs to be done to ensure that deterioration is fixed and does not continue.
The Vietnam Veterans Pottstown Chapter 565 maintains the Vietnam War Memorial through fundraising efforts and an organized clean-up of the memorial grounds once a year, but there is no organized effort behind maintaining the World War II Memorial.
Other potential projects include new lighting, landscaping, repairs to existing structure problems and educational signs; repair to the stone work and mural on the inside walls of the band stand’ refurbish and relocate the World War II cannon near the entrance; build walkways to connect existing and possible future memorials as well as designate areas for future memorials, and more, Paretti said.
She has proposed the creation of a committee that would oversee and plan for the uses of the island, that would work with the Parks and Recreation Department for implementation and funding.
“Having the island at Memorial Park solely dedicated to our veterans, with eye-catching memorials, public art, landscaping, and educational information, is a natural evolution of the space as it exists today,” Paretti told council.
“Our intention is to create a respectful, peaceful, and inspiring place to honor those who have served our country and sacrificed so much,” she said.
