ORGANIZERS of the Durand Veterans of Rock-n-Roll Concert gathered on Monday, Nov. 20 at the Durand Veterans Memorial Park to present a check in the amount of $56,188.89, the proceeds from the concert, to the city of Durand. Nearly 1,000 past and present Durand residents packed Optimist Park in Durand on Aug. 26 for the concert, and those who attended have called the concert “a once-in-a-lifetime event,” and said, “it was like 10 class reunions all rolled into one.” Durand musicians and personalities traveled from all over the country to organize and play in the concert.

  With the $56,188.89 raised during the concert, the Veterans Memorial Park project has now been fully funded. The Durand Parks and Recreation Committee, along with the help of local service groups such as the Durand VFW Post #2272, has collected nearly $150,000 for the completely privately funded park project. The cost of the project is more than $110,000, and all of the remaining funds will be used for the perpetual care of the park.

  The park includes a memorial wall with accompanying headstones, flagpoles, a Fallen Soldier statue and personalized brick pavers, as well as a brick perimeter wall and fencing, benches, a brick walkway that runs throughout the park, and a five-sided granite obelisk with bronze medallions representing the five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. Additionally, Durand City Council members Jeff Brands and John Matejewski have spent hours planting and maintaining the landscaping in the park. The park will also include a stand-alone bronze sponsor board, which will be installed in the coming months.

  Shown during the check presentation on Nov. 20 are (from left) council members Connie Cobley and John Matejewski, lead concert organizer Robert Sager, Durand VFW Chaplain Pat Boudro, Durand Mayor Deb Doyle, Durand VFW Commander and lead concert organizer Dennis Martin, Durand VFW Quartermaster Mike Shepard, organizer and Jim’s Pizza owner Greg Martin, Durand VFW Senior Vice Commander Joe Cooney, Parks and Recreation Committee Chairman Ted Schaefer, and Durand City Manager Colleen O’Toole.

(Independent Photo/Graham Sturgeon)

Rock-n-Roll Concert proceeds was last modified: November 27th, 2017 by Karen Elford