New Veterans Memorial Salutes Veterans in Wayne

On September 30, Wayne City officials held a ribbon-cutting and flag raising ceremony at the new Wayne Veterans Memorial. Attending the event were community members, city officials, donors to the project, and veterans, some of whom are employed by the city of Wayne's Department of Public Works.

Plans for the new memorial came into existence in 2016 when discussion was raised on refurbishing the city's Peace Memorial located next to the Wayne Library. Area veterans indicated they wanted a dedicated memorial that specifically honored veterans. Wayne City Manager Lisa Nocerini and Community Development Director Lori Gouin assembled a committee and set to work researching how to go about erecting such a monument and obtaining the necessary financing. "This is a very deep-rooted, proud, very all-American community," says Nocerini. "Most communities have a veterans memorial of some sort, and it was just missing, it was a piece that was missing in this community."

The first major donors to the project were Ford Motor Company and UAW Local 900, who jointly contributed $25,000 to the project. An online Patronicity crowdfunding campaign was launched with all funds raised being matched by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). "Every donation that was made into Patronicity by residents, citizens, and businesses, was matched dollar for dollar," explains Nocerini. Donations came in from across the country, with the final amount totaling just over $100,000 and this past June, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new memorial. Due to such generosity, the committee was able to establish a maintenance fund for the memorial's upkeep.

In addition, UAW Local 845 in Canton moved their office to Wayne and donated five monuments from their veterans memorial to the project. Three benches along with a flag pole mechanism have been donated by various city council members and Veterans Memorial committee members.

Nocerini says accessibility was considered when deciding on a location. An area south of city hall and west of Goudy Park was decided upon as it was open and large enough, and already had an ADA compliant path and nearby parking. "So it made perfect sense; what we did was took the parking spots that are right in front of it and we made them Veterans Parking Only so those individuals who cannot leave their vehicle can come at any time of the day, winter, summer, spring, or fall, and they can sit in their car and they can reflect at the memorial," says Nocerini.

Nocerini says she is overwhelmed and grateful for the support the project has received. She would like to thank all who donated and would like to acknowledge the contributions of Mayor John Rhaesa, veteran and Mayor Pro Tem Tom Porter, Chris Miller and UAW Local 900. "I have seen every single day, both veterans sitting in vehicles...I see veterans coming and sitting on the benches that were donated, so we are seeing exactly what we hoped would happen, which was accessibility for all veterans," she says.

The Wayne Veterans Memorial is located at 3355 South Wayne Road, south of Wayne City Hall. The memorial will be open 24/7, year-round, and honors all branches of military service.