Progress reported on Montgomery’s planned veterans memorial

A goal of completing project for Memorial Day 2007

By: Jake Uitti
   MONTGOMERY — The Montgomery Veterans Memorial Committee is making progress toward its goal of building a memorial to honor residents who have served in the armed forces and Merchant Marine during times of war.
   "We are pleased to announce this Memorial Day week that we are enthusiastically making final preparations and targeting completion by Memorial Day 2007," said Jerry Cianfrocca, chairman of the Montgomery Veterans Memorial Committee.
   A recent significant step was the completion of name-gathering for the more than 900 Montgomery veterans. There are 21 who served in the American Revolution, 51 in the Civil War, and 426 in World War II, officials said.
   "Memorial Day has become a holiday for picnics and the beach, and those things are fine, but it is terribly important for us also to pause, reflect and honor the individuals and families that have served and sacrificed so much," said Mayor Louise Wilson. "This Memorial Day, we encourage all Montgomery residents to support this important, deserving community project by giving generously to the Montgomery Veterans Memorial Fund."
   The memorial will be located in Montgomery’s arboretum, across the brook from Montgomery Park. Information about the memorial project and images of the memorial design are available at www.montgomeryveteransmemorial.com.
   A list of Montgomery veterans by war has now been gathered and delivered to Cold Spring Granite, the contractor designing and manufacturing the granite memorial pieces and engraving them with the veterans’ names.
   Once Cold Spring Granite has completed plans for the memorial pieces, the architect can complete the memorial site construction plans and begin to work with and select appropriate contractors on site work, township Public Information Officer Tammy Garaffa said.
   The Memorial Committee announced it received a $10,000 contribution from the CGEM Group LLC in May. One of the two principals, Huguette Castaneda, has served on the Montgomery Veterans Memorial Committee since its inception, leading the effort to identify the veterans’ names, Ms. Garaffa said.
   Those wishing to contribute may make checks payable to the Montgomery Veterans Memorial Fund at PACF and mail them to The Montgomery Veterans Memorial Fund at PACF, 15 Princess Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648.