http://www.kitteryme.gov/Pages/KitteryME_News/04C01BF9-000F8513

KITTERY THRESHER MEMORIAL PROJECT UPDATE, October 25, 2014
TURNOVER
Town Acceptance:
The Kittery Town Council by unanimous consent at its regular meeting on October 14, 2014 accepted the gift of all the Memorial Project improvements (flagpole, signage, monumentation, benches, trees and plantings, and water-electricity additions) along with $5,000 in funds to establish a municipal account to be used for future maintenance costs.
In the Group’s request to Council, we noted:
“The Thresher improvements in the Circle and park reflect the stately, dignified, and symbolic objective of the Project Group in honoring the men of Thresher in the town she was built in, and signify Kittery’s pride in our rich maritime history in standing up for the freedom of this great country and clearly displaying that we honor our own.”
Silent Strength author D. Allen Kerr intends to donate the proceeds from sales of the book and any donations or future funding raising can be made payable to “THRESHER MEMORIAL FUND ACCOUNT 5007” and sent to: Town of Kittery Finance Office, 200 Rogers Road, Kittery, ME 03904.
Kittery After Hours Rotary Club:
A very dedicated community-service oriented group of local folks, incorporated under the Rotary umbrella, has accepted the role of continuing project administration. The Project e-mail, website, and Facebook accounts are in process of being transferred. David Sutton, PNS retiree, will be the administrator. Details will be published soon.
Final Budget
Net zero is always a positive achievement in project management and we are pleased to note
that we did it (OK…it took a bit of final contribution to make the check for the maintenance fund
for the Town equal exactly $5,000). Suffice to say that every contribution counted!
Memorial Circle Flagpole (Base/Pole/Flags) $62,996.98
Memorial Circle (Signage/Hardscape/Landscape) $42,628.93
Memorial Park CoH (Pavers/Plaque/Benches/Walks/Landscape) $89,486.54
Post-Project (Flags/Electricity/Maintenance) $5,000.00
Other Expenses $16,762.16
EXPENSE TOTAL $216,874.61
Memorial Donations & Pledges (Contributor Funds – Direct In-Kind) $140,758.91
Dedication Events & Admin (Separately Donated) $16,762.16
Other In-Kind (Engineer, Legal, etc) (Separately Donated) $59,353.54
DONATIONS TOTAL $216,874.61
That does include the yet-to-be installed historic marker for Memorial Park orchestrated by D.
Allen Kerr, expected to be there soon (full size on website):
Project Compliments
We offer sincerest appreciation to President George H. W. Bush for his generous support and endorsement; as well as the communities of Portsmouth, Rye, and Hampton, NH; and Wells, ME.
We must also express the greatest appreciation to the Kittery Maine Improvement Foundation, a non-profit 501C3 entity established to support improvement projects to the benefit of the Town of Kittery, officers Judy Spiller, George Dow, Duncan McEachern, and Gerry Mylroie , who accepted sponsorship of the Thresher Project, enabling us to accord tax deductible status to our contributors.
Finally, especially meritorious credit goes to the Kittery Town Council and departments of the Town for unwavering support in making this memorial a reality.
Thanks to Donors
The Group fully acknowledges that this Project would not have come to fruition without every individual and company who made contributions large and small. For the record, more than 430 contributors from all around the United States (including 82 from Kittery) donated funds or in-kind materiel and services in the amount of $216,874.61 to the project. 91 came forward to sponsor publication of D. Allen Kerr’s book “Silent Strength” leading to sizeable and continuing contributions. And most certainly, the most generous contributions by our largest donors:
LANG LANDSCAPING SERVICES, GREENLAND, NH
$25,000.00
H. L. PATTEN CONSTRUCTION, KITTERY
$18,000.00
ANONYMOUS, KITTERY
$13,864.41
PNS NAS NSE (SUPERINTENDENTS)
$11,000.00
THE MEN & WOMEN OF ELECTRIC BOAT
$10,015.00
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
$5,000.00
NORTHEAST CREDIT UNION, PORTSMOUTH, NH
$5,000.00
D. ALLEN KERR – SILENT STRENGTH AUTHOR, KITTERY*
$5,702.76
* Additional proceeds from continuing sales to be contributed
FINALLY…FINALLY…A LAST (AND RARE) PERSONAL MESSAGE
So long, farewell, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, goodbye…
As your friendly local project administrator, my most heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all who receive this. A compound, complex, nearly impossible challenge….does it get any better than that?
You gave me laughs…and joy…and tears and sorrow…you gave me faith restored….and reinforced in what this country truly is no matter the daily headlines….you all showed “Yes, I Can” (the Sammy Davis, Jr. version)….I will take to the grave that the real people of this nation will always step up and set forth to do the right thing, as they have throughout its history.
For me, along with you no doubt, it is who I am…it is what I do. And I’m good with that.
Thanx for the ride. garyb