The Wrangell Mariners' Memorial, an ongoing project to build a memorial to honor Wrangellites who have been lost at sea, has made several big steps forward. Jenn Miller, president of the Mariners' Memorial board, said that they have raised enough funds to begin the next steps of laying the memorial's groundwork.
"We have Brett Woodbury and Russ McGee working on the groundwork for us," she said. "We actually spent our first money out of the account on materials, on rebar. That is on the barge as we speak. So we're pretty excited about that. They're telling us that any time they can get to it they'll start work on it ... There'll be a little bit of electrical work tied into that as well."
Once the groundwork is complete, Miller said that they plan to start working on the walls of the memorial. Once that begins the board will start taking applications for plaques to put on the walls. The project is moving along at a good pace, and she said everyone is very excited that they will have something to show for all their hard work soon. While there is no firm timetable for the project, Miller said that they are hoping to have the majority of the work done by next spring.
"The board is really looking forward, after a couple of years of hard work here and the support from the community, to have something to really show for it," she said.
Another important update the public needs to be aware of, she said, is that the Mariners' Memorial recently received a "challenge grant" from the Rasmuson Foundation. For every dollar the memorial board can raise between July 1 of 2019 and July 1 of 2020, the Rasmuson Foundation will match it to a maximum of $25,000. The catch, Miller said, is that the money has to be raised and spent within the same year.
"We have to not only earn it, though, we have to spend it," she said.
With the need to raise funds as soon as possible, Miller encouraged everyone to consider donating money or becoming a member of the Wrangell Mariners' Memorial. Memberships are only $50. More information can be found online at http://www.wrangellmarinersmemorial.com. Miller added that, for those interested, there will be a fish fry fundraiser at Heritage Harbor. The date is still to be determined, but the board is aiming for sometime in August. Anyone interested in volunteering for the fish fry or donating auction items should contact the board.
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