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Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Purcellville's First Responder's Monument Ready for Sunday's Dedication
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Parents in Purcellville
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Date: September 08, 2011 12:16PM
Purcellville's First Responder's Monument Ready for Sunday's Dedication
by Kim Pregartner-Weber
http://www.thepurcellvillegazette.com/article2/index.html
The final touches and installation of the Town of Purcellville's First Responders Monument located in front of the historic Bush Tabernacle at Fireman's Field, located at 250 South Nursery Avenue, took place Wednesday morning, September 7th with Purcellville's Mayor Bob Lazaro, Purcellville's Town Manager Rob Lohr, Damon Putman, a teacher at Monroe Technology and his second year, and several onlookers. The dedication of the monument, featuring a steel I-Beam from the World Trade Center's Tower Two, will be the highlight of the Town of Purcellville's September 11th Remembrance Ceremony at the Bush Tabernacle on Sunday, September 11 beginning at 6pm.
The monument has been years in the making, according to Rob Lohr. Lohr explained that the whole process began when Mayor Lazaro read in the New York Times that it was possible to own a piece of an steel I-Beam from the World Trade Center. When the Town received the piece, a Committee of three was formed to determine how the piece would be best displayed in the western Loudoun town. The Committee included: Alan Cochran of Cochran's Stone Masonry and Timber Framing, Wayne Hughes of the Hughes Group, and Damon Putman.
The team of three met multiple times over the years to bounce ideas back and forth to determine the best way to display the steel beam. The beam section the Town of Purcellville received has a "USA" mark stamped on it and a "US Steel" stamped on it. The chalk mark numbering and cataloging the piece when it was at the World Trade Center location can still be faintly seen. To preserve the piece, the Committee had the steel beam treated so it will not rust on the base.
Hughes, who also did the design for the Safety Center in Purcellville, was the main designer for the monument including how to best present the piece of steel on the base. Cochran found the stone from a barn close to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, cut the large pieces of some and then built the base in which the monument sits. Putman and his students came up with the design to hold the steel in place and to permanently adhere it on the base.
Six students from Putman's Monroe Technology School's second year graduating class, including Cody Bratcher, Paren Crawford, Bryce Rohrer, Eric Phillips, and Quentin Harshman, attached the steel structure to the base. Putman, a native of Purcellville and a graduate of Monroe Tech himself, did a lot of the prep work during the summer. "It's something my children will see and recognize that I was part of an historical event where we live," said Putman. "The kids can put their hands on this steel structure and pay respect to it."
As visitors to the monument will see at the dedication Sunday evening, the committee has included a significant amount of symbolism in the monument. Each of the places where the three incidents occurred on September 11, 2001 is represented. The piece of the steel beam represents the World Trade Center. The stone was taken from a farm close to Shanksville, Pennsylvania and a United States Flag that will fly next to the monument representing the Pentagon. For Sunday's dedication, a flag that has flown over the Pentagon, will be flown specifically for the dedication. After the dedication, the flag will be folded and placed in a frame to be housed in the new Purcellville Town Hall. As the monument was attached to its base, Mayor Lazaro looked on and said the monument is "pointing to the Heavens - - it's where it should be."
by Kim Pregartner-Weber
http://www.thepurcellvillegazette.com/article2/index.html
The final touches and installation of the Town of Purcellville's First Responders Monument located in front of the historic Bush Tabernacle at Fireman's Field, located at 250 South Nursery Avenue, took place Wednesday morning, September 7th with Purcellville's Mayor Bob Lazaro, Purcellville's Town Manager Rob Lohr, Damon Putman, a teacher at Monroe Technology and his second year, and several onlookers. The dedication of the monument, featuring a steel I-Beam from the World Trade Center's Tower Two, will be the highlight of the Town of Purcellville's September 11th Remembrance Ceremony at the Bush Tabernacle on Sunday, September 11 beginning at 6pm.
The monument has been years in the making, according to Rob Lohr. Lohr explained that the whole process began when Mayor Lazaro read in the New York Times that it was possible to own a piece of an steel I-Beam from the World Trade Center. When the Town received the piece, a Committee of three was formed to determine how the piece would be best displayed in the western Loudoun town. The Committee included: Alan Cochran of Cochran's Stone Masonry and Timber Framing, Wayne Hughes of the Hughes Group, and Damon Putman.
The team of three met multiple times over the years to bounce ideas back and forth to determine the best way to display the steel beam. The beam section the Town of Purcellville received has a "USA" mark stamped on it and a "US Steel" stamped on it. The chalk mark numbering and cataloging the piece when it was at the World Trade Center location can still be faintly seen. To preserve the piece, the Committee had the steel beam treated so it will not rust on the base.
Hughes, who also did the design for the Safety Center in Purcellville, was the main designer for the monument including how to best present the piece of steel on the base. Cochran found the stone from a barn close to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, cut the large pieces of some and then built the base in which the monument sits. Putman and his students came up with the design to hold the steel in place and to permanently adhere it on the base.
Six students from Putman's Monroe Technology School's second year graduating class, including Cody Bratcher, Paren Crawford, Bryce Rohrer, Eric Phillips, and Quentin Harshman, attached the steel structure to the base. Putman, a native of Purcellville and a graduate of Monroe Tech himself, did a lot of the prep work during the summer. "It's something my children will see and recognize that I was part of an historical event where we live," said Putman. "The kids can put their hands on this steel structure and pay respect to it."
As visitors to the monument will see at the dedication Sunday evening, the committee has included a significant amount of symbolism in the monument. Each of the places where the three incidents occurred on September 11, 2001 is represented. The piece of the steel beam represents the World Trade Center. The stone was taken from a farm close to Shanksville, Pennsylvania and a United States Flag that will fly next to the monument representing the Pentagon. For Sunday's dedication, a flag that has flown over the Pentagon, will be flown specifically for the dedication. After the dedication, the flag will be folded and placed in a frame to be housed in the new Purcellville Town Hall. As the monument was attached to its base, Mayor Lazaro looked on and said the monument is "pointing to the Heavens - - it's where it should be."