Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Quad City Forum, a weekly community service program
produced by iHeartMedia to look at the issues and opportunities
that exist in our community. Now here's your hosts for
a Quad City Forum, Hot Luke and Denny Linnhowe.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
We have Roger grand Boys on the phone today talking
about Veterans Memorial Park, which there are four parks right
along the Mississippi River. This is probably one of the
newer ones looking for a landmark. It's the three flagpoles
that really kind of distinguishes it from maybe some of
the other parks. And Roger this particular park is it's
(00:41):
been an interesting little path its life has It's not
been a straight line, but it's been a line that
is consistently the arrow is pointing up towards what's being accomplished.
And when we talk about a city park, this yet
is getting help from the city. But a lot of this.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Veterans Memorial Park FOVMP dot org. And yeah, we actually
are a team of former veterans, or not former, we
are veterans. Our mission basically is simple that we want
to do as much as we can to promote the park,
enhance the items that are available to see at the park.
(01:23):
You had mentioned the three poles, the flag poles. There's
a whole lot more now than just the flagpoles that
were actually placed, I believe in twenty eleven when we
dedicated the park very early on. Now there's a forty
four mural that was created by one of our Davenport residents.
It's at the park. We have flags for all of
(01:44):
the service branches, including Space Force. We have a bugler
who now is fully functional and lit at night and
plays three times a day, toots his horn, and we
are now in competition went to Rock Island.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Marshal Roger. I like it because if you're a bugler,
at some point you have to toot your own horn.
You literally have to.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Toot your own horn. Absolute. This is not a live person.
It actually is one step above the battery operated horns
that a lot of the veterans groups use at memorial
services or funerals. And it's not to take away from
that importance. It's just that this is a This is
a bronze statue, sits upon a platform that three times
(02:33):
a day he is programmed to toot his horn. In
the morning at seven o'clock he'll play reveale. Then at noon,
he'll play the national anthem, and at nine o'clock in
the evening he'll play Revelle. And then there's also along
with those three, there's a way for us to activate
an automated program that we can at any time press
(02:56):
a button and it'll play a medley of the service branches,
anthems and some other little ditties. But it lasts about
fifteen minutes.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
For people that are just at the park at any
one of those times, maybe if they timed it out
or not. What a all inspiring thing. What just has
chills in the back of my spine just thinking about
being there when the bugler starts.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, you're exactly right. You know, you're standing up there
at seven o'clock in the morning or nine o'clock in
the evening and you start hearing that it's going to
be a little spine tangling.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Well, and again going back to the bugler and having
the statue that all costs money.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yeah, the bugler alone is a five thousand dollars item.
And we've got three more bronze statues that are going
to be placed in the very near future. I won't
go into detail, but they're five thousand to eight thousand dollars.
Also because one of them is a dual statue. It's
a soldier carrying a wounded soldier, so and again.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
And that's where you're and you're trying to make sure
that you your organization can help make that work and
keep itself sustaining because we're talking about the different phases
that this park has gone through, and we're kind of,
I don't know where we're at now. We phase one
into phase two.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Say Phase one, I would say is the twenty eleven
up until twenty twenty two. In twenty twenty two, I believe,
we started Phase two, which is the mural, the Bugler
and all that the flags and all the plaques that
identify the branches of the service and also different conflicts
(04:38):
or wars that America is involved in. So that's Sets two,
and we had a ribbon cutting ceremony on November two
I believe, I think it was twenty twenty three that
we had the ribbon cutting ceremony and it went very
very well. So now we're into Phase three, which involves
our big project, and that's called our Commemorative Brick project.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Tell us about that whole what we're going to be
able to see when it's fully completed down there.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
At the park. Okay, so the commemorative brick part is
actually a project that was kind of dreamed of at
the ribbon cutting ceremony in twenty twenty three, and it's
actually was brought to our attention by mister Lyle Peterson
who was a member of our committee, and he was
basically in charge of getting donations, you know, going to
(05:27):
companies and help raise funds. So Lyle has since passed away,
rest his soul, but he started a really good project,
got us all involved. And so basically what the bricks
are is you buy a far by eight inch paper
brib could be a red paper brick. They're not going
to go on the ground there. We are building two
(05:49):
A frames to handle the bricks that we've got so far.
So far we've got one A frame bricks sold for
one of the A frames. We're working on the second
one now. So each A frame holds two hundred and
eighty eight bricks. So if we have to in the
future expand that we will, but right now we're sticking
with the two. So basically, through a donation of one
(06:12):
hundred dollars, you can purchase a brick. It doesn't have
to be from for a deceased service member, just anybody
who served in the any branch of the Armed Forces,
including merchant Marines, Coastguard, Space Force as well. We don't
have any bricks from Space Force yet.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Well that's relatively new, but eventually we'll see some more
people want to chime in on that for sure. But
what do you have?
Speaker 3 (06:36):
We have two bricks. They are from brothers from the
Civil War. One was they both served in the I
think it was twenty second Iowa Infantry out of Fort
Dodge or Fort somewhere in Iowa, and they actually thought
that the Battle of Vicksburg passed. One of them died
at the Battle of Vicksburg. And so we have two
(07:00):
Civil War veterans bricks on there. We have World War
One veterans, we have World War Two Korea, Vietnam, and
Afghan in Iraq conflicts. So we've covered it all. In fact,
one of our veterans that we actually the Friends Group
(07:21):
paid for his brick was a World War Two decorated veteran.
He was a Marine veteran just turned one hundred years old.
We had a party for him for his one hundred
years of life and also his service in World War
(07:41):
Two at Okinawa.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
And I would gather too, and I would gather too,
Roger that even if by chance you were serving and
it was peacetime, the bricks still, whatever the case, get
your brick up there so that family and friends and
even the VET themselves can go out there and look
and look what I did. Everybody kind of coming together.
We had brought this phrase up a lot of times
(08:07):
in the past with any of the the interviews that
we have on the Quad City Forum where it takes
a village, in this particular case, it takes the military
to raise a village sometimes and we can have yeah,
there we go. That's that's what we'll kind of accustomize
this for. But that's fantastic, there we go.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
But whatever the case, it's it's a great way to
show your respect for the work and the sacrifices that
many have done over the years. In this we know
we since we have a finite space there, people better
hurry because if you want to be a part of
one of those two A frames, you've only got just
a few bricks left before they complete the second.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
A frame exactly. Yeah, and we we plan to start.
The A frames are actually being built by the students
at Davenport West High School and their instructor at Yeah,
and his name is Andy. Andy's in and Andy's In
(09:13):
also has an uncle that was a Vietnam k I A.
His brick is also on the wall. But they're if
they're being built right now, they should be within the
next month or two placed on the on the at
the park. They're going to be behind the Bugler statue.
(09:33):
And like I said, there'll be two A frames and
there will also be a compass on the ground between
the two A frames. The compass is going to have
a if you know what the praying soldier looks like.
You'll see him kneeling down with the rifle and then
the boots on top of the rifle and a helmet.
(09:56):
Then that will be in the between the two A
frames and we need.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
It.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Sounds silly, but we needed a compass right there because
when you're down there standing in that part of the river,
the river actually runs east and west and not north
and south like most people think the Mississippi runs right,
so we needed a compass to identify the directions because
on a locator service that I built. It actually will
(10:28):
identify the two different A frames as the South A
frame and the North A frame, which the South will
be closest to the river, in the north closest to
the city. So people will actually be able to identify
the A frames just by the compass, you know which
one we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
And this brings up another point here when you talk
about the locator, and even though we'll probably with the interview,
I don't want to stumble you, I don't want to
hold this up here, but there is a way for
people if they want to find certain bricks. Isn't there
a locator set up at the website that you designed? There?
Speaker 3 (11:08):
There is, It's on It's available from the link from
a link on the actual application for a brick you
put the donor puts his name in and then puts
the veteran's name in. But I don't have it. I
haven't advertised it as yet available to the public. But
(11:28):
there's no reason that somebody couldn't, you know, if they
hear about it, they can go to the brick application
that that entices them to maybe apply for a brick. Right,
But at the top of the at the top of
the page, there's a couple of graphics. One of them
shows the positioning of where the walls are going to
(11:48):
be the A frames are going to be placed, and
right next to there's a couple images of people like
silhouette type people that are pointing to bricks on the walls.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
There.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
There's a little bit of a verbiage right below that.
It says, your search results will indicate which of the
four walls they can find their brick and the worst
search that just the word itself is hyperlinked and it
will take you to the locator app that I built.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
For That's a that's a great thing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
There will also be QR codes at each of the
walls down at the display and so people will be
able to just point their phone and then that that
application will pop right up on their phone while they're there.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
So that's great. Make it easy now for people that
want to purchase a brick, they can do that with
PayPal and where can they find that at and what
are the it's a fairly easy process. At least I
got to the purchase the brick on PayPal, and they'll
be able to use different to different cards to be
(12:53):
able to make the purchase and it's one hundred dollars,
but why don't you you tell them that process?
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Sure? Okay, So the website addresses fov MP dot org,
which is Friends of Veterans Memorial Park. We are we
are in for the lack of a better word, cahoots
with the City of Davenport on everything that happens down
at the park, everything that's placed there, every decisions that
(13:23):
are made. We have members and high members of the
Davenport Park System on our team, and so we coordinate
with a Davenport on a monthly basis. We have a meeting.
So basically the f o v MP dot org will
bring you to the base website and from there you
(13:46):
can get hurting in information from the site, different tabs
and stuff to go to different areas. But on on
the top of the page there's a there's a yellow
rectangle that says purchase Brickle PayPal, so people would click
on that. Then at the top of that form you
could you add your personal information so if we have questions,
(14:09):
we can contact you and make sure that you know
you're getting the right moml information on the brick. So
then below the donor contact information we have the actual
area for the veterans information. We have several designs for
service branch logos and flags and things that people can
(14:31):
use as clip art. And that the clip art part
is an important part because if you use, if you
select clip art for your brick along with the three
lines of veterans information, that reduces the three lines of
veterans information by five spaces on each one. We have
some requirements by the engraver that there can be no
(14:54):
more than twenty characters on each one of the lines.
So if you don't want clip art, that find that
gives you five more characters per line. So that's just
that's only available on the online version. I've got some
safeguards in there that won't let you add information that
(15:15):
you know over the twenty space limit. So having said that,
there are two places on that form, one at the
top and it says I if you prefer to mail
your application or donation, click here. That will bring you
to a PDF file that you can actually fill out
on your computer and print it and send it through
(15:37):
the mail, and we give the mailing adress. So there's
several ways that you can apply for a brick.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
That's fantastic. And again to find out a little bit more.
I think the website is is fantastic, gives you kind
of a rundown of phase one and two and into
phase three of what's happening down at the park. But
if they want to find out more, I think it's
it's great to give the acronym for the Friends of
Veterans Memorial Park again. And I would gather there's also
(16:06):
something similar on Facebook or some of the socials, but
just so people can find out a little bit more,
give that website again.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Yeah, the website is f o VMP dot org and
we also have a Facebook link on the site, so
we do have a Facebook page, and there's what we
call it a site quick guide link that will actually
allow you to go to several different places on the
website to navigate the site. And we have a donate
(16:37):
button that will take you to if you want to
if you want their both PayPal and if you want
to do it just a personal donation, you can do
that without buying a brick. There's also the link for
the brick donation. So basically that's it's a simple acronym,
like you said, for the website, and it's pretty self
intuitive on functionality and to follow. If it's not, please
(17:01):
let me know you did. Can't contact me from the
website or the Facebook page, and I can, you know,
find out what we can do to make it better
for you.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Well that's Roger. That's the voice of Roger grand Boys,
who again is not to toot your own horn as
we bring back the boogler the bugler again. But you
really designed a lot of this website and it really
seems like it's a great job that you've done. I
know you're not the only one that's part of this
whole thing, but again, we.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Have a team. Yeah, I'm the one that's basically in
charge of the brick project. I'm also on the committee
for all the other stuff that we're bringing in, but
this brick project. I was asked by mister Rle Peterson
to be a part of this because he knew that
I had website experience, web building experience through my career
(17:59):
at the Rock Island Arsenal, and I've also done several
community commercial websites here in the Quad Cities. And I
also have been involved with the Vietnam Veterans Organization for
a long time too, and probably about thirteen or fourteen
years ago, I built a online auction for the Vietnam
(18:24):
veterans and that went really, really well, and so Lyle
knew it. Lyle was a big help to me in
that process, and so we were the ones going out
doing the footwork, knocking door to door and getting donations
and then putting them on this auction site. So he
knew I had a lot of experience, and so he
asked me to join the Brick project, and so I
(18:48):
did and built the site, built the brick site, built
the locator part of it. So yeah, I have done
a lot of it, but there's a lot of people
in the background that are all part of this.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Well, like you said, takes a battalion, right.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
It does. It does the city of Davenport. The mayor
is involved. The mayor is on our committee. The several
high level park officials are on the committee. The design person,
Zach Peterson uh from Davenport Park Sea's basically helps us
design and let us know where the appropriate place to
(19:25):
put the next design feature into the into the park.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Well, we know we're into phase three right now and
moving forward when if there are other phases, it's going
to be great to be able to see the progress
and it's just another It just seems awe inspiring to
be able to get down there at the right time,
to be able to enjoy just the bugler sound.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Absolutely. Now, Now the project, the brick project is our
big money razor right now for every You'd think that
one hundred dollars is a lot to pay for a brick,
but you got to remember you're doing it for You're
buying something that's permanent for a loved one that's going
to recognize their service. But we are using the donations
(20:14):
that we receive across the committee about I would say
twenty seven to twenty eight dollars per brick. So the
rest of it is, you know, going to the fundraiser.
So the fundraiser not just to help build the commemorative bricks,
it is also funding the other three statues that we're having.
(20:35):
One will be a sailor down by the river, full
sized bronze and then or bronze like I don't know
if he's solid bronze. But then we'll have a female
in uniformed soldier by the Afghan a rock conflict area,
and will have a like I said before, we'll have
a soldier that's carrying a wounded soldier over by the
(20:58):
Vietnam area, so it helps to pay It's going to
help to pay for all three of those.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Also, I think it's fantastic when you think of projects
that people should be proud of and seeing their money
well spent right in front of them. This is a
great way to go. Whether you have somebody in the military,
more than likely a family has somebody connected in the military,
but just being able to spend some time, eat of
(21:27):
lunch down at the park, whether the bugler fires off
or not, that scene down there is fantastic.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Yeah, you got the baseball diamond right there if you
want to, you know, catch a game and come over
look at the park or have like you said, picnic
lunch or something down there. We're always improving the park.
We don't see an end to this as long as
the park is up and we have it. It came
of volunteers that want to, you know, keep doing that.
(21:57):
When I'm seventy four years old, when we get ready
to kick the bucket, you know, we want people to
be able to carry this on. So we'll have those people.
People will step up, just like in any other service organization.
You know, it won't die it takes.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Well, it's not gonna die because like you had already said,
it takes a battalion, and there'll be somebody. It's like
a relay race that when one is done and the
other will take over and just pick it.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Up and go the baton baton, baton.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
So and Roger one more time on that website again,
where can they go to see the progress and find
out more.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
The website is f o VMP dot org and the
address for the site for the park itself if people
have not even visited it and they're just finding out
right now that there even is a new veterans park
in Davenport. It's at the south of South Marquette Street
at the river where the boat ramps are. There's also
(23:02):
a park down there. I think it's called.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Well, there's Centennials Centennials down there too, And then you
can look a little bit far I would gather you'd
say upriver and you'd see modern Woodman.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
So it's right in that area there exactly. And we're
right between the the railroad bridge and the Centennial Bridge
right at the river. So I mean, it's a beautiful location.
And we've also made sure that we position any of
our elements in the park above the flood level, or
(23:36):
at least try to get it above the flood level.
And we had a couple of years ago a flood
that came up to just about where the flag poles
are and that was it. So we think we're pretty
safe on most of the stuff. We keep all that
that knowledge in the back of our minds where we're
designing and where we're going to place new articles. So
(23:58):
and it's always growing. So people haven't even looked at
the park. Come down and take a look at it.
It's a beautiful park. We have a forty foot very
dynamic mural that one of our members, Dave Schaffer, and
I believe he's a teacher at West He actually painted
that and it's just a great attraction right there, just
(24:18):
in itself.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
It's money well spent, very well spent. Roger, thank you
for the time, continued success and any time you need
a little help with things. We'd love to talk about
great things on the quad City form.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Well, Pat and Danny, thank you guys very much for
allowing us to voice our concerns and stuff about what
we're doing for the city of Davenport. In conjunction with
the City of Davenport. We really appreciate you giving us
the time to spread the word.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Well it's a small thing on our part, but we'll
take a bow with you. But you're the one doing
all that. You and the organization are doing a lot
of that heavy lifting, and congrats to City of Davenport.
Deserves to take a bo but we're all in this together. Roger,
call us anytime and we'll try to help.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Thank you very much, Pat, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
If you or your organization would like to be featured
on Quad City Forum, please visit the contact page on
our station website. Now back to Pat Luke and Danny Linnhue.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
We have Patty McCrae, executive director Quad City Animal Welfare
Center over in milind talking to us today now with
the fourth of July coming up, we have plenty of
very common sense tips that we have to talk about. Also,
how are you doing on the volunteers for the clinic,
how's that going or do you need any more help?
Speaker 5 (25:38):
We always need more help, So on a Wednesday we
can see seventy to eighty patient in a three hour period.
We use the volunteers for just a lot of our
basic operations, especially with our wellness clinic. So definitely, if
anyone is interested, check out our website, you can get
signed up and come to the volunteer orientationation will show
(26:01):
you all the opportunities because there's other things that we
need help with along with our wellness clinic.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Maybe initially when we were talking about it on the
radio that intimidates some people were They're saying, wait a minute,
I'm going to have to diagnose here. No, this is
just to help the next step. And certainly for a
lot of our furry friends, we're moving into an exciting
time of the year for some people, but not always
our animals. And when we start talking about.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
Fourth of July, yeah, festivities for your pets on the
fourth of July can be very stressful and actually dangerous
for some pets. We have seen some cats and dogs
that have gotten loose from their families and have gotten
in really bad situations. So one of the first things
you still have time would be to consult with your veterinarian.
(26:50):
Definitely want to talk to them about any type of
medication or treatment, especially if you know you have an
anxious pet or you know that I'm going to have
a bunch of people at my house and I want
to make sure that my pet is safe and calm,
so you have time to get that appointment.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Still with your veterinarian, one of the major things is
really creating a place like a safe room for the pet.
Speaker 5 (27:14):
Absolutely, So if you can create a small room, have
their bed, their toys, food and water. If it's a cat,
litter box, maybe get them some new toys. If it's
a dog, they love those congs. Stuff some peanut butter
in there, or with the heat, you can even freeze
that and that gives them something really nice to chew on.
(27:36):
Put on some nice soothing music. Really try to just
shut the windows, maybe close the blinds, and just give
them a very calming, soothing environment. And if you know
you're going to have a lot of guests over, just
shut that door and make it a safe environment for them.
You know a couple other things that you can just
kind of think about as well. If you are going
(27:57):
to see your veterinarian, make sure that you have gotten
your pet microchip or we do offer the microchipping at
our wellness drive up clinic and that's every Wednesday from
eight to eleven. Microchipping is so important if your pet
is ever lost, just an easy permanent way to make
sure that you get your pet back safely.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
And not everybody that you may have over at your
home is going to be pet friendly, So maybe we
need to keep some harmful items out of their way
just in case and remind our guests about that.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
Yes, definitely, so there are some things that obviously fireworks,
keep those away from your pets. That's going to be
very stressful and the loud noise, but definitely different types
of festive food, alcohol, any type of decorations, those can
also be very harmful. I know my cats love to
(28:53):
chew on little pieces of tinsel and decorations, so definitely
want to make sure that you're watching for that. If
you put something new and your cat sees it new decoration,
make sure that they're not going to be chewing on that,
and that your guests are respectful and not giving them
food they shouldn't be eating, because then you're going to
definitely end up with some tummy issues.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
People want to find out a little bit more or
if they're thinking about volunteering or even seeing all the
great furry friends that they maybe are about ready to
adapt when they go to the website. Give them the website. There,
Patty on our way out here today.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
Yes, yes, so it's it's our initials. Actually it's QCAWC dotorg.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
You've been listening to Quad City Forum, a weekly community
service program produced by iHeartRadio. If you were your nonprofit
organization would like to be featured, please visit the contact
page and our station website, or contact Quad City Forum
and care of iHeartMedia. Quad Cities three five three five
East Kimberly Road, Davin Fords, Iowa five two eight zero
(29:59):
seven
Welcome to Quad City Forum, a weekly community service program
produced by iHeartMedia to look at the issues and opportunities
that exist in our community. Now here's your hosts for
a Quad City Forum, Hot Luke and Denny Linnhowe.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
We have Roger grand Boys on the phone today talking
about Veterans Memorial Park, which there are four parks right
along the Mississippi River. This is probably one of the
newer ones looking for a landmark. It's the three flagpoles
that really kind of distinguishes it from maybe some of
the other parks. And Roger this particular park is it's
(00:41):
been an interesting little path its life has It's not
been a straight line, but it's been a line that
is consistently the arrow is pointing up towards what's being accomplished.
And when we talk about a city park, this yet
is getting help from the city. But a lot of this.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Veterans Memorial Park FOVMP dot org. And yeah, we actually
are a team of former veterans, or not former, we
are veterans. Our mission basically is simple that we want
to do as much as we can to promote the park,
enhance the items that are available to see at the park.
(01:23):
You had mentioned the three poles, the flag poles. There's
a whole lot more now than just the flagpoles that
were actually placed, I believe in twenty eleven when we
dedicated the park very early on. Now there's a forty
four mural that was created by one of our Davenport residents.
It's at the park. We have flags for all of
(01:44):
the service branches, including Space Force. We have a bugler
who now is fully functional and lit at night and
plays three times a day, toots his horn, and we
are now in competition went to Rock Island.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Marshal Roger. I like it because if you're a bugler,
at some point you have to toot your own horn.
You literally have to.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Toot your own horn. Absolute. This is not a live person.
It actually is one step above the battery operated horns
that a lot of the veterans groups use at memorial
services or funerals. And it's not to take away from
that importance. It's just that this is a This is
a bronze statue, sits upon a platform that three times
(02:33):
a day he is programmed to toot his horn. In
the morning at seven o'clock he'll play reveale. Then at noon,
he'll play the national anthem, and at nine o'clock in
the evening he'll play Revelle. And then there's also along
with those three, there's a way for us to activate
an automated program that we can at any time press
(02:56):
a button and it'll play a medley of the service branches,
anthems and some other little ditties. But it lasts about
fifteen minutes.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
For people that are just at the park at any
one of those times, maybe if they timed it out
or not. What a all inspiring thing. What just has
chills in the back of my spine just thinking about
being there when the bugler starts.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, you're exactly right. You know, you're standing up there
at seven o'clock in the morning or nine o'clock in
the evening and you start hearing that it's going to
be a little spine tangling.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Well, and again going back to the bugler and having
the statue that all costs money.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yeah, the bugler alone is a five thousand dollars item.
And we've got three more bronze statues that are going
to be placed in the very near future. I won't
go into detail, but they're five thousand to eight thousand dollars.
Also because one of them is a dual statue. It's
a soldier carrying a wounded soldier, so and again.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
And that's where you're and you're trying to make sure
that you your organization can help make that work and
keep itself sustaining because we're talking about the different phases
that this park has gone through, and we're kind of,
I don't know where we're at now. We phase one
into phase two.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Say Phase one, I would say is the twenty eleven
up until twenty twenty two. In twenty twenty two, I believe,
we started Phase two, which is the mural, the Bugler
and all that the flags and all the plaques that
identify the branches of the service and also different conflicts
(04:38):
or wars that America is involved in. So that's Sets two,
and we had a ribbon cutting ceremony on November two
I believe, I think it was twenty twenty three that
we had the ribbon cutting ceremony and it went very
very well. So now we're into Phase three, which involves
our big project, and that's called our Commemorative Brick project.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Tell us about that whole what we're going to be
able to see when it's fully completed down there.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
At the park. Okay, so the commemorative brick part is
actually a project that was kind of dreamed of at
the ribbon cutting ceremony in twenty twenty three, and it's
actually was brought to our attention by mister Lyle Peterson
who was a member of our committee, and he was
basically in charge of getting donations, you know, going to
(05:27):
companies and help raise funds. So Lyle has since passed away,
rest his soul, but he started a really good project,
got us all involved. And so basically what the bricks
are is you buy a far by eight inch paper
brib could be a red paper brick. They're not going
to go on the ground there. We are building two
(05:49):
A frames to handle the bricks that we've got so far.
So far we've got one A frame bricks sold for
one of the A frames. We're working on the second
one now. So each A frame holds two hundred and
eighty eight bricks. So if we have to in the
future expand that we will, but right now we're sticking
with the two. So basically, through a donation of one
(06:12):
hundred dollars, you can purchase a brick. It doesn't have
to be from for a deceased service member, just anybody
who served in the any branch of the Armed Forces,
including merchant Marines, Coastguard, Space Force as well. We don't
have any bricks from Space Force yet.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Well that's relatively new, but eventually we'll see some more
people want to chime in on that for sure. But
what do you have?
Speaker 3 (06:36):
We have two bricks. They are from brothers from the
Civil War. One was they both served in the I
think it was twenty second Iowa Infantry out of Fort
Dodge or Fort somewhere in Iowa, and they actually thought
that the Battle of Vicksburg passed. One of them died
at the Battle of Vicksburg. And so we have two
(07:00):
Civil War veterans bricks on there. We have World War
One veterans, we have World War Two Korea, Vietnam, and
Afghan in Iraq conflicts. So we've covered it all. In fact,
one of our veterans that we actually the Friends Group
(07:21):
paid for his brick was a World War Two decorated veteran.
He was a Marine veteran just turned one hundred years old.
We had a party for him for his one hundred
years of life and also his service in World War
(07:41):
Two at Okinawa.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
And I would gather too, and I would gather too,
Roger that even if by chance you were serving and
it was peacetime, the bricks still, whatever the case, get
your brick up there so that family and friends and
even the VET themselves can go out there and look
and look what I did. Everybody kind of coming together.
We had brought this phrase up a lot of times
(08:07):
in the past with any of the the interviews that
we have on the Quad City Forum where it takes
a village, in this particular case, it takes the military
to raise a village sometimes and we can have yeah,
there we go. That's that's what we'll kind of accustomize
this for. But that's fantastic, there we go.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
But whatever the case, it's it's a great way to
show your respect for the work and the sacrifices that
many have done over the years. In this we know
we since we have a finite space there, people better
hurry because if you want to be a part of
one of those two A frames, you've only got just
a few bricks left before they complete the second.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
A frame exactly. Yeah, and we we plan to start.
The A frames are actually being built by the students
at Davenport West High School and their instructor at Yeah,
and his name is Andy. Andy's in and Andy's In
(09:13):
also has an uncle that was a Vietnam k I A.
His brick is also on the wall. But they're if
they're being built right now, they should be within the
next month or two placed on the on the at
the park. They're going to be behind the Bugler statue.
(09:33):
And like I said, there'll be two A frames and
there will also be a compass on the ground between
the two A frames. The compass is going to have
a if you know what the praying soldier looks like.
You'll see him kneeling down with the rifle and then
the boots on top of the rifle and a helmet.
(09:56):
Then that will be in the between the two A
frames and we need.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
It.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Sounds silly, but we needed a compass right there because
when you're down there standing in that part of the river,
the river actually runs east and west and not north
and south like most people think the Mississippi runs right,
so we needed a compass to identify the directions because
on a locator service that I built. It actually will
(10:28):
identify the two different A frames as the South A
frame and the North A frame, which the South will
be closest to the river, in the north closest to
the city. So people will actually be able to identify
the A frames just by the compass, you know which
one we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
And this brings up another point here when you talk
about the locator, and even though we'll probably with the interview,
I don't want to stumble you, I don't want to
hold this up here, but there is a way for
people if they want to find certain bricks. Isn't there
a locator set up at the website that you designed? There?
Speaker 3 (11:08):
There is, It's on It's available from the link from
a link on the actual application for a brick you
put the donor puts his name in and then puts
the veteran's name in. But I don't have it. I
haven't advertised it as yet available to the public. But
(11:28):
there's no reason that somebody couldn't, you know, if they
hear about it, they can go to the brick application
that that entices them to maybe apply for a brick. Right,
But at the top of the at the top of
the page, there's a couple of graphics. One of them
shows the positioning of where the walls are going to
(11:48):
be the A frames are going to be placed, and
right next to there's a couple images of people like
silhouette type people that are pointing to bricks on the walls.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
There.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
There's a little bit of a verbiage right below that.
It says, your search results will indicate which of the
four walls they can find their brick and the worst
search that just the word itself is hyperlinked and it
will take you to the locator app that I built.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
For That's a that's a great thing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
There will also be QR codes at each of the
walls down at the display and so people will be
able to just point their phone and then that that
application will pop right up on their phone while they're there.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
So that's great. Make it easy now for people that
want to purchase a brick, they can do that with
PayPal and where can they find that at and what
are the it's a fairly easy process. At least I
got to the purchase the brick on PayPal, and they'll
be able to use different to different cards to be
(12:53):
able to make the purchase and it's one hundred dollars,
but why don't you you tell them that process?
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Sure? Okay, So the website addresses fov MP dot org,
which is Friends of Veterans Memorial Park. We are we
are in for the lack of a better word, cahoots
with the City of Davenport on everything that happens down
at the park, everything that's placed there, every decisions that
(13:23):
are made. We have members and high members of the
Davenport Park System on our team, and so we coordinate
with a Davenport on a monthly basis. We have a meeting.
So basically the f o v MP dot org will
bring you to the base website and from there you
(13:46):
can get hurting in information from the site, different tabs
and stuff to go to different areas. But on on
the top of the page there's a there's a yellow
rectangle that says purchase Brickle PayPal, so people would click
on that. Then at the top of that form you
could you add your personal information so if we have questions,
(14:09):
we can contact you and make sure that you know
you're getting the right moml information on the brick. So
then below the donor contact information we have the actual
area for the veterans information. We have several designs for
service branch logos and flags and things that people can
(14:31):
use as clip art. And that the clip art part
is an important part because if you use, if you
select clip art for your brick along with the three
lines of veterans information, that reduces the three lines of
veterans information by five spaces on each one. We have
some requirements by the engraver that there can be no
(14:54):
more than twenty characters on each one of the lines.
So if you don't want clip art, that find that
gives you five more characters per line. So that's just
that's only available on the online version. I've got some
safeguards in there that won't let you add information that
(15:15):
you know over the twenty space limit. So having said that,
there are two places on that form, one at the
top and it says I if you prefer to mail
your application or donation, click here. That will bring you
to a PDF file that you can actually fill out
on your computer and print it and send it through
(15:37):
the mail, and we give the mailing adress. So there's
several ways that you can apply for a brick.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
That's fantastic. And again to find out a little bit more.
I think the website is is fantastic, gives you kind
of a rundown of phase one and two and into
phase three of what's happening down at the park. But
if they want to find out more, I think it's
it's great to give the acronym for the Friends of
Veterans Memorial Park again. And I would gather there's also
(16:06):
something similar on Facebook or some of the socials, but
just so people can find out a little bit more,
give that website again.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Yeah, the website is f o VMP dot org and
we also have a Facebook link on the site, so
we do have a Facebook page, and there's what we
call it a site quick guide link that will actually
allow you to go to several different places on the
website to navigate the site. And we have a donate
(16:37):
button that will take you to if you want to
if you want their both PayPal and if you want
to do it just a personal donation, you can do
that without buying a brick. There's also the link for
the brick donation. So basically that's it's a simple acronym,
like you said, for the website, and it's pretty self
intuitive on functionality and to follow. If it's not, please
(17:01):
let me know you did. Can't contact me from the
website or the Facebook page, and I can, you know,
find out what we can do to make it better
for you.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Well that's Roger. That's the voice of Roger grand Boys,
who again is not to toot your own horn as
we bring back the boogler the bugler again. But you
really designed a lot of this website and it really
seems like it's a great job that you've done. I
know you're not the only one that's part of this
whole thing, but again, we.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Have a team. Yeah, I'm the one that's basically in
charge of the brick project. I'm also on the committee
for all the other stuff that we're bringing in, but
this brick project. I was asked by mister Rle Peterson
to be a part of this because he knew that
I had website experience, web building experience through my career
(17:59):
at the Rock Island Arsenal, and I've also done several
community commercial websites here in the Quad Cities. And I
also have been involved with the Vietnam Veterans Organization for
a long time too, and probably about thirteen or fourteen
years ago, I built a online auction for the Vietnam
(18:24):
veterans and that went really, really well, and so Lyle
knew it. Lyle was a big help to me in
that process, and so we were the ones going out
doing the footwork, knocking door to door and getting donations
and then putting them on this auction site. So he
knew I had a lot of experience, and so he
asked me to join the Brick project, and so I
(18:48):
did and built the site, built the brick site, built
the locator part of it. So yeah, I have done
a lot of it, but there's a lot of people
in the background that are all part of this.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Well, like you said, takes a battalion, right.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
It does. It does the city of Davenport. The mayor
is involved. The mayor is on our committee. The several
high level park officials are on the committee. The design person,
Zach Peterson uh from Davenport Park Sea's basically helps us
design and let us know where the appropriate place to
(19:25):
put the next design feature into the into the park.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Well, we know we're into phase three right now and
moving forward when if there are other phases, it's going
to be great to be able to see the progress
and it's just another It just seems awe inspiring to
be able to get down there at the right time,
to be able to enjoy just the bugler sound.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Absolutely. Now, Now the project, the brick project is our
big money razor right now for every You'd think that
one hundred dollars is a lot to pay for a brick,
but you got to remember you're doing it for You're
buying something that's permanent for a loved one that's going
to recognize their service. But we are using the donations
(20:14):
that we receive across the committee about I would say
twenty seven to twenty eight dollars per brick. So the
rest of it is, you know, going to the fundraiser.
So the fundraiser not just to help build the commemorative bricks,
it is also funding the other three statues that we're having.
(20:35):
One will be a sailor down by the river, full
sized bronze and then or bronze like I don't know
if he's solid bronze. But then we'll have a female
in uniformed soldier by the Afghan a rock conflict area,
and will have a like I said before, we'll have
a soldier that's carrying a wounded soldier over by the
(20:58):
Vietnam area, so it helps to pay It's going to
help to pay for all three of those.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Also, I think it's fantastic when you think of projects
that people should be proud of and seeing their money
well spent right in front of them. This is a
great way to go. Whether you have somebody in the military,
more than likely a family has somebody connected in the military,
but just being able to spend some time, eat of
(21:27):
lunch down at the park, whether the bugler fires off
or not, that scene down there is fantastic.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Yeah, you got the baseball diamond right there if you
want to, you know, catch a game and come over
look at the park or have like you said, picnic
lunch or something down there. We're always improving the park.
We don't see an end to this as long as
the park is up and we have it. It came
of volunteers that want to, you know, keep doing that.
(21:57):
When I'm seventy four years old, when we get ready
to kick the bucket, you know, we want people to
be able to carry this on. So we'll have those people.
People will step up, just like in any other service organization.
You know, it won't die it takes.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Well, it's not gonna die because like you had already said,
it takes a battalion, and there'll be somebody. It's like
a relay race that when one is done and the
other will take over and just pick it.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Up and go the baton baton, baton.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
So and Roger one more time on that website again,
where can they go to see the progress and find
out more.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
The website is f o VMP dot org and the
address for the site for the park itself if people
have not even visited it and they're just finding out
right now that there even is a new veterans park
in Davenport. It's at the south of South Marquette Street
at the river where the boat ramps are. There's also
(23:02):
a park down there. I think it's called.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Well, there's Centennials Centennials down there too, And then you
can look a little bit far I would gather you'd
say upriver and you'd see modern Woodman.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
So it's right in that area there exactly. And we're
right between the the railroad bridge and the Centennial Bridge
right at the river. So I mean, it's a beautiful location.
And we've also made sure that we position any of
our elements in the park above the flood level, or
(23:36):
at least try to get it above the flood level.
And we had a couple of years ago a flood
that came up to just about where the flag poles
are and that was it. So we think we're pretty
safe on most of the stuff. We keep all that
that knowledge in the back of our minds where we're
designing and where we're going to place new articles. So
(23:58):
and it's always growing. So people haven't even looked at
the park. Come down and take a look at it.
It's a beautiful park. We have a forty foot very
dynamic mural that one of our members, Dave Schaffer, and
I believe he's a teacher at West He actually painted
that and it's just a great attraction right there, just
(24:18):
in itself.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
It's money well spent, very well spent. Roger, thank you
for the time, continued success and any time you need
a little help with things. We'd love to talk about
great things on the quad City form.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Well, Pat and Danny, thank you guys very much for
allowing us to voice our concerns and stuff about what
we're doing for the city of Davenport. In conjunction with
the City of Davenport. We really appreciate you giving us
the time to spread the word.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Well it's a small thing on our part, but we'll
take a bow with you. But you're the one doing
all that. You and the organization are doing a lot
of that heavy lifting, and congrats to City of Davenport.
Deserves to take a bo but we're all in this together. Roger,
call us anytime and we'll try to help.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Thank you very much, Pat, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
If you or your organization would like to be featured
on Quad City Forum, please visit the contact page on
our station website. Now back to Pat Luke and Danny Linnhue.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
We have Patty McCrae, executive director Quad City Animal Welfare
Center over in milind talking to us today now with
the fourth of July coming up, we have plenty of
very common sense tips that we have to talk about. Also,
how are you doing on the volunteers for the clinic,
how's that going or do you need any more help?
Speaker 5 (25:38):
We always need more help, So on a Wednesday we
can see seventy to eighty patient in a three hour period.
We use the volunteers for just a lot of our
basic operations, especially with our wellness clinic. So definitely, if
anyone is interested, check out our website, you can get
signed up and come to the volunteer orientationation will show
(26:01):
you all the opportunities because there's other things that we
need help with along with our wellness clinic.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Maybe initially when we were talking about it on the
radio that intimidates some people were They're saying, wait a minute,
I'm going to have to diagnose here. No, this is
just to help the next step. And certainly for a
lot of our furry friends, we're moving into an exciting
time of the year for some people, but not always
our animals. And when we start talking about.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
Fourth of July, yeah, festivities for your pets on the
fourth of July can be very stressful and actually dangerous
for some pets. We have seen some cats and dogs
that have gotten loose from their families and have gotten
in really bad situations. So one of the first things
you still have time would be to consult with your veterinarian.
(26:50):
Definitely want to talk to them about any type of
medication or treatment, especially if you know you have an
anxious pet or you know that I'm going to have
a bunch of people at my house and I want
to make sure that my pet is safe and calm,
so you have time to get that appointment.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Still with your veterinarian, one of the major things is
really creating a place like a safe room for the pet.
Speaker 5 (27:14):
Absolutely, So if you can create a small room, have
their bed, their toys, food and water. If it's a cat,
litter box, maybe get them some new toys. If it's
a dog, they love those congs. Stuff some peanut butter
in there, or with the heat, you can even freeze
that and that gives them something really nice to chew on.
(27:36):
Put on some nice soothing music. Really try to just
shut the windows, maybe close the blinds, and just give
them a very calming, soothing environment. And if you know
you're going to have a lot of guests over, just
shut that door and make it a safe environment for them.
You know a couple other things that you can just
kind of think about as well. If you are going
(27:57):
to see your veterinarian, make sure that you have gotten
your pet microchip or we do offer the microchipping at
our wellness drive up clinic and that's every Wednesday from
eight to eleven. Microchipping is so important if your pet
is ever lost, just an easy permanent way to make
sure that you get your pet back safely.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
And not everybody that you may have over at your
home is going to be pet friendly, So maybe we
need to keep some harmful items out of their way
just in case and remind our guests about that.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
Yes, definitely, so there are some things that obviously fireworks,
keep those away from your pets. That's going to be
very stressful and the loud noise, but definitely different types
of festive food, alcohol, any type of decorations, those can
also be very harmful. I know my cats love to
(28:53):
chew on little pieces of tinsel and decorations, so definitely
want to make sure that you're watching for that. If
you put something new and your cat sees it new decoration,
make sure that they're not going to be chewing on that,
and that your guests are respectful and not giving them
food they shouldn't be eating, because then you're going to
definitely end up with some tummy issues.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
People want to find out a little bit more or
if they're thinking about volunteering or even seeing all the
great furry friends that they maybe are about ready to
adapt when they go to the website. Give them the website. There,
Patty on our way out here today.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
Yes, yes, so it's it's our initials. Actually it's QCAWC dotorg.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
You've been listening to Quad City Forum, a weekly community
service program produced by iHeartRadio. If you were your nonprofit
organization would like to be featured, please visit the contact
page and our station website, or contact Quad City Forum
and care of iHeartMedia. Quad Cities three five three five
East Kimberly Road, Davin Fords, Iowa five two eight zero
(29:59):
seven
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.