Volunteers spent the weekend doing an overhaul of the town’s nearly 100-year-old Memorial Park, starting a process of an even more extensive renovation.
Memorial Park, located next to the town’s police station at the head of Main Street, was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1924, when a memorial tablet was erected in honor of Wilton veterans who had served from the Revolution to the recent World War.
The park was rededicated in 1949, when a new plaque for the veterans of World War II was attached. Since that time, separate monuments have been added for more recent conflicts. But over time, the foliage around the park has been overgrown.
For years, those invested in Main Street, including the town’s Economic Development Team, Wilton Main Street Association, and the Wilton American Legion Bent-Burke NH Post 10, which oversees the park. With the recent acquisition of a $1,000 grant by the Economic Development Team from Eversource, on Sunday, a collection of volunteers donated time and equipment to make the restoration happen.
With assistance from veterans from the Wilton American Legion, owners of Greeley Farms Landscaping Brenden and Randy Greely, Main Street business owner Elmer Santerre, and tree expert Richard Herfurth of Lyndeborough, volunteers removed a border of overgrown juniper and bittersweet vines that have been blocking the view of the town’s war monuments from the street, and made plans to frame a new walkway entrance into the park from the town parking lot behind the police station.
“This project has been on our list for several years,” said Beck. “People have talked about pulling those junipers for nearly three decades, so seeking the willingness of these guys to show up on a Sunday with smiles and skills, is such a great, feel-good scene right now.”
The Wilton Main Street Association is donating a solar light for the flagpole, benches, and a white lilac to spruce up the park.
Donations to the Wilton Main Street Association are being sought to help restore the monuments, to clean the bronze plaques and granite. Contact Alison Meltzer at 801-4642 for more information about how to donate to the restoration project.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.