Veterans Memorial in Humboldt becomes a reality
An official ground-breaking ceremony took place at Worthington Park in Humboldt for the site of the new Veterans Memorial. Members of the Humboldt Veterans Memorial Association joined Humboldt city officials for the ceremony. Pictured, from left: Wilson Echevarria (veterans affairs office), Ross Sleiter (park board member), Paul Yost (veterans association), Humboldt Mayor Dan Scholl, Dennis Trenary Jr. (veterans association), Clayton Vorland (parks superintendent), Daryle Zwiefel (veterans association), Gary Miller, Vicki Schwint (veterans association), Ron Rasmussen and Humboldt City Administrator Cole Bockelmann. Independent photo.
By PHIL MONSON
Daryle Zwiefel couldn’t help but be a little emotional. For the last three years he’s been a key part of a fundraising effort to build a Veterans Memorial. When his group met with city officials for the groundbreaking ceremony on Aug. 6 in the southwest corner of Worthington Park, their dream became reality.
“I’m so thrilled with the city, the parks board…just everybody. It’s beyond belief for me to get this kind of support in the short amount of time,” said Zwiefel, whose Humboldt Veterans Memorial Association has raised over $150,000 for the project. “We have a ways to go but we are getting very close.”
“It will be three to four weeks to get the cement laid for the base of the memorial. Jason Dodd, the contractor, will use a special coating. We are in the middle of trying to get the stones engraved. That’s been our biggest hurdle. I have 1,400 stones in my garage,” Zwiefel said.
“Right now we have close to 1,600 names of veterans. The first phase will hold about 1,200 names. The next two phases will hold between 450 and 500 names. We are pretty sure we can get everybody in,” Zwiefel said.
“The entrance won’t be here until the spring. It will be really big. We will have flags lined up in the back that are here and ready to go,” Zwiefel said. “We are hoping definitely to have the final touches completed by spring.”
“It’s a big project. It has really grown. The black stones will be engraved with the names of those killed in action and what service they were in and how and when they got killed,” Zwiefel said.
