By Mike Stucka
TOPSFIELD — After one monument was nearly lost to memory and shrubbery, Topsfield's residents and workers have matched up with a Wenham man to redesign a veterans commemorative area for the town.
Earlier this month, workers moved an existing monument, to the veterans of both world wars and dropped off a small boulder that will memorialize Vietnam War veterans to a designated park honoring veterans' service. Over the next year, an arrowhead-shaped area in front of the Topsfield Library will feature a walking path, benches and lighting for the dramatic Civil War monument already in the park.
The path will be more attractive and actually feature the monuments more "so they're not just thrown somewhere surrounded by grass," said Janet Kmetz, president of Topsfield's Main Street Foundation.
The relocated monument, a plaque on a small boulder, had been nearly overgrown by a juniper bush in front of Town Hall. That monument is dedicated "in proud memory of the men and women of Topsfield who served their country in the world wars."
Kmetz said she lived in town for years without knowing the monument existed, and she still doesn't know who dedicated it, or when.
By Veterans Day 2009, plans call for that world wars monument to be matched by a memorial to John David Lawson, a Marine pilot who was the only Topsfield resident killed in Vietnam.
In a design by Hugh Collins of Wenham, the existing World War I monument, a tall slab, will remain the gateway to the area. Walkways will go around it and lead to a circle around the Civil War monument. Four granite benches would line a straight portion of the walkway.
"We really see it as a gathering place and a place where veterans' names can be displayed," said Collins, who liked being able to help another community.
Matt Boyle, a Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War and a former drill instructor, said everyone from the selectmen to the police chief has supported the project.
"It's going to be a spot to bring people together," he said.
Paula Burke of Topsfield is looking into whether families could buy bricks for the walkway to commemorate veterans. Kmetz said the revitalization effort began with Joan Panella, who sought lights around the Civil War monument. Two lights now illuminate that monument.
Other groups or people that have helped the project include architect Ben Nutter; Superintendent Steve Shepard and the rest of the Park and Cemetery Department; the Topsfield Historical Society; and the Topsfield Conservation Commission.
The Civil War monument for Topsfield residents who served in "the great rebellion of 1861-1865" was dedicated in 1914.
