Veterans memorial takes shape as monuments are installed
Trisha Benton
Randolph Times
RANDOLPH — After years of planning and laying the groundwork, the Randolph Area Veterans Memorial is finally starting to take shape.
Last week, several monument pieces were added to the memorial on the southwest side of the park.
“It’s a relief to finally see movement,” said Julie Kint, one of the memorial organizers. “We’ve sat with not much action for a while.”
Lind-Gubbels of Osmond operated the crane and Gibson Memorials/Yankton Monument Company helped install the main memorial centerpiece, the POW/MIA pillar and several benches Thursday.
Kint’s favorite piece of the memorial is a pillar with a photo etched into granite that features three local veterans - Joe Miller, Jenny Gubbels and Shawn Calder. The photo was taken by Crystal Junck of Generations Photography and sent to the monument company for etching.
“It’s a really cool picture and knowing it’s Randolph people brings a tear to your eye when you see it. It’s special,” she said.
Another moving piece is the POW/MIA sculpture which features hands bound by barbed wire.
“The details, the fingernails, the wrinkles on the hand, it’s eerie how real they look,” Kint said.
While some pieces have been installed, the main pillars with the veterans names engraved is still on its way with delays caused by materials shortages and supply chain delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re hoping people can be patient for a little longer. It’s nothing we can control with COVID and we hope people are understanding,” Kint said. “It’s kind of like toilet paper and everything else, there’s weird shortages like that.”
Veterans names from Randolph, McLean and Belden will be included on five pillars, dating back to service in the Civil War.
“We had so many names we ordered the additional fifth pillar,” Kint said. “We put the footing in originally for a fifth and I’m glad we did because we had so many names we needed it right now.”
Another bench needs to be installed as well as the Gold Star monument.
Individuals or businesses can still purchase bricks that outline the memorial for $250 each with forms for purchase available at First State Bank or the Randolph Area Veterans Memorial Facebook page. The money raised will help with perpetual care of the memorial including flag replacement and annual additions of veterans’ names.
Kint said she’s glad committee members overseeing the veterans memorial took their time researching different elements and scrutinizing designs, as well as taking time to make sure veterans’ names were included and spelled correctly.
All of the time and hard work seems to have paid off with an emotional and fitting tribute to those who gave so much of themselves to their country both in war and peace, she said.
