Letters to leaders about Veterans Memorial

Please use this opportunity to rethink the design and location of the Veterans Memorial. How many black granite monuments are in Georgia? None come immediately to my mind. The present design will be hotter than an in-use frying pan in the summer months. At the very least please consider the use of Georgia/Elberton gray granite. Also there is a much better design already on the table done by local artist Jerry Chappelle which is much better in scope and execution than the cold, unfriendly and overbearing design presently offered. Chappelle has also suggested another more appropriate location for the memorial in Heritage Park, and I concur.

I appreciate the work done by Ken Beall and others on the behalf of the Oconee Veterans, but I know we can do much better for our community. Ask the members of OCAF for their input instead of forcing a criminally-tainted monolith down our throats.

Thank you very much for your consideration,

Dan Matthews

Response from Melvin:

Dan—

Thanks for your suggestion. As you know this is an independent group of citizens and is not appointed by the BOC. Current members are Vinnie Williams and Don Norris.

I note you have sent your thoughts to the current members of the Veterans Memorial Committee. I am sure they will take your suggestions as well as other suggestions from interested individual.

The BOC has allocated land at the Oconee Community Complex for a Veterans Memorial. At the time of the determination of the site, the BOC felt this location would allow the Memorial to be seen by more individuals, be more centrally located in the county and be a place of honor for our Veterans.

If the Veterans Memorial Foundation group wants to change the design of the Memorial, I am confident they will share any potential changes with the BOC at the appropriate time. I am also sure that whatever design is ultimately determined by the group, it will not meet the satisfaction of 100% of the people.

Melvin Davis