JAY — Resident Hyla Friedman who spearheaded the effort in 2004 to improve and expand the War Memorial on Route 4, is at it again.
This time, the 90-plus-year-old woman, is fighting to protect the monument that the state is trying to revamp for road construction purposes, she told selectmen Monday.
The state is reconstructing a section of Route 4, also known locally as Main Street, and part of that project is to widen the road and put in new sidewalks.
Friedman said that the state wants to change the wrought iron fence around the monument in front of St. Rose Parish Hall.
“It’s not going to happen,” Friedman said. She says the state wants to take a section of the fence.
A Maine Department of Transportation representative said Monday afternoon that a state landscaper plans to work with the town to come up with a design that is acceptable and no section of fence is going to be taken.
There is a meeting with the Maine DOT and a state landscaper at 2 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 25, at the old town office on Route 4, on the former Police Department side.
Selectman Tom Goding and Chairman Steve McCourt plan to attend the meeting.
Friedman said that she thinks the monument is a living thing. It’s a memorial to all who sacrificed their lives, she said.
“It is sacred ground,” she said.
People donated a section of the fence in memory of loved ones that served or were serving in the military during the renovation of the monument.
Friedman spearheaded the fundraising campaign to expand the memorial to include all military branches and all wars declared by Congress. Businesses, organizations and private individuals donated to the cause.
The expansion included four stone benches, two new monuments, landscaping and replacement of a chain-link fence with the wrought iron. A new flag pole also was made and donated. The memorial, dedicated in 2006, cost about $19,000. The group also raised more than $15,000 for perpetual care.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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