War memorial awaits funding

Created by Cambridge artist Sondra Jonson, the 4-foot tall bronze sculpture that will be installed in Norris Park as a war memorial will be of an angel carrying a soldier up through the clouds, the soldier supported by the United States flag. "In God We Trust" is engraved on the side of the flag. The memorial project is being organized by McCook Boy Scout Trenton Klimper as his Eagle Scout project.
(Lorri Sughroue/McCook Daily Gazette)

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The memorial project is being spearheaded by 14-year old Trenton Klimper, who would like to install it as his Eagle Scout project. The McCook City Council unanimously approved Monday night at the regular city council meeting the selection of bronze sculpture created by Cambridge artist Sondra Jonson and gave the go-ahead for Klimper to proceed with the project.

Klimper told the council that the statue was chosen by both a group of citizens he had assembled and by the McCook Parks Board, from among several proposals he had suggested. Other structures he had proposed were a granite, five-pointed star at about $7,000, a fiberglass structure of a World War I soldier by artist Gary Ginther for $4,000 and a multi-phased project of three bronze figures, flag and flag pole at $120,000.

The bronze statue the council approved Monday night, called "Going Home," is of an angel carrying a soldier up through the clouds, the soldier supported by the United States flag.

It will be a total of seven feet tall, with the statue at four feet plus the base. If the sculpture was purchased privately, it would be between $20-30,000, Klimper said, but the cost for the McCook memorial will be significantly lower at $6,000 as Jonson will use the cast she made for a similar sculpture she is doing in Iowa.

Already he has garnered $2,000 toward costs of the sculpture, Klimper said, and will be doing a major fund raising push in the next two months for the rest of the funds. He hopes to have the memorial installed by Heritage Days in September.

This will be the third memorial placed in Norris Park. A wooden pillar was installed in the 1940s but over time fell into disrepair. Another memorial was placed in the park but due to vandalism it was eventually removed.

Klimper told the council at his initial meeting in May that his goal is for a memorial to honor veterans that will "withstand the test of time."

The community has been very supportive of the project so far, he added. Tax deductible contributions can be made to the Nebraska Community Foundation, mailed to McCook Community Foundation, P.O. Box 36, McCook, NE 69001.