Veterans memorial receives funding

Millstone Township Committee appropriates money for monument on grounds of Clarksburg School.

By: Scott Morgan
   MILLSTONE — The Township Committee last week adopted an ordinance that will allow Millstone to build a veterans memorial on the grounds of the former Clarksburg School on Stagecoach Road.
   Adoption of the ordinance came shortly after the committee read a letter from Veterans Memorial Council Chairman Jack McLaughlin. In the letter, Mr. McLaughlin said he anticipates the ground breaking for the monument to be held Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
   The monument, a triangular field of stars carved from a 21-by-13-foot sliver of blue granite, will be the centerpiece of the monument complex designed by Hamilton artist Blaise Batko. The monument also will include smaller stones inscribed with the insignia of the four service branches and a stone at the entrance to the monument grounds inscribed with the township’s name and seal, the dedication date and veterans’ comments.
   The ordinance allotted $130,000 in "seed money," so the process of ordering materials and paying Mr. Batko can commence, Mr. McLaughlin said.
   Mr. McLaughlin said the timing of the ordinance is perfect because the centerpiece is made of blue granite, a rock only available from Finland.
   "It’s urgent that we get the blue granite ordered in time, before the (Finnish) ports freeze over," he said.
   The $130,000 seed money is just the beginning, Mr. McLaughlin said. He said he would like to raise at least $50,000 in private donations to both repay the township and advance construction.
   Mr. McLaughlin said he is working to assemble a group he believes should be present at the dedication. Representatives from the Perrineville Jewish Center, the United Presbyterian Church of Millstone and the St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, as well as members of the Marine Corps League and "some other dignitaries" are expected to attend, he said.
   The memorial project has been in the works since January of this year.
To make a donation, make checks payable to the Millstone Township Veterans Memorial Fund and mail to: Veterans Memorial Council, Attn: Mr. McLaughlin, 215 Millstone Road, PO Box 240, Perrineville, NJ 08535.