A Park Report for December 26 2014

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From our Chairman Wilson, Honorary Patron Rev. Wesley Oake and the entire Park Committee, we wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We are so grateful for all the donations to date and we hope 2015 will bring enough donations to finish the next phases of the Gander Heritage Memorial Park, i.e. Sgt. Gander statues, walkway lighting, the memorial wall to Gander's aviation disasters and finally, the water fountain.

I am sure you all agree from the photos that the Park looks absolutely stunning and the comments from around Gander are tremendous. The finishing touches and the other monuments will certainly add to the beauty and serenity of the area.

Thankfully the weather cooperated and much more work was accomplished this fall than anticipated. Thanks to the Town of Gander employees, our benches were assembled and installed in late November – some photos attached. Aren't they eye-catching?

The Park with the new benches!

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The Park with the new benches!

We have updated our Donations page with this report and it is significant to note that the $10,000 received from the Gander Co-op 50/50 now gives a total donation of $23,918 from this organization (See also Gander SC Charities). We are extremely appreciative to them and the other charitable organizations for their continued support of the Park.

To all our contributors – Thank You! This project would never have reached this stage without your caring and generosity. We hope that you are full of pride for your accomplishment. You have given the residents of Gander a gift that is timeless! We hope Gander residents will visit the Park often and for those of you who live away, we hope when you return home you will make a visit to the Park top priority.

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Maxine Smith and Carol Walsh, Committee Members / December 26, 2014

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We now have an updated Donations page and an updated Donations Progress Bar with an updated Ticker on the right. As of December 26 2014 we have achieved 82.4% of our target which amounts to $445,138 of our target total of $540,000. Thank you to all who have donated your time or financial aid ... much appreciated!

On the Donations page I updated sections Small Business Donors, Individual Donors and Plaza Stones Purchases!

to jump to the updated Donations page to view all updated sections.

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Gerard McCarthy / December 29, 2014

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PLEASE NOTE***

• We now acknowledge donations made In memory of. The committee is looking at a plaque of some type to be permanently mounted at the Gander Heritage Memorial Park site acknowledging these individual donations. Both PayPal and the Town of Gander have no means of recording the donation made In memory of. If you want your name to appear as a donor In memory of on this website please email our Site Administrator Gerard at gerard.mccarthy.99@gmail.com or Committee Member Maxine at maxine@briggsaero.com and your donation will be recorded as such and will be shown as In memory of.
• If you don't want your name to appear as a donor on this website please email our Site Administrator Gerard at gerard.mccarthy.99@gmail.com or Committee Member Maxine at maxine@briggsaero.com and your donation will be shown as anonymous.
• You may purchase plaza stones by simply making your donation in the same manner as detailed on this website and then send a short email to Maxine maxine@briggsaero.com denoting that the donation is for the "purchase of paving stone(s)". Receipts for income tax purposes will be issued by the Town of Gander.

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NOTE*** Your comments are welcomed!
However, all comments will be queued for review before being published and name=anonymous will be deleted unless your name is included at the end of your comment! This is to prevent spam, etc.
Before you click Publish your Comment please click on Name/URL and enter your full name. Don't forget the scrambled words - this is so automated spams cannot be dumped here!
Thank you. Gerard

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Message from the Chairman

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Enthusiasm and support for The Gander Heritage Memorial Park is growing rapidly and I feel it’s time to update you on our progress to date.

• We are meeting on a bi-weekly basis and are moving very quickly with some very important steps.
• Application has been made to incorporate the Group as "Gander Heritage Memorial Park, Inc".
• Our Architect has been working on a design for a large Billboard to be erected on the site of the park which will be unveiled on September 16th during ceremonies commemorating The Battle of Britain. Also at that time Mayor Elliott on behalf of The Town of Gander will conduct a ceremony to officially name the area as THE GANDER HERITAGE MEMORIAL PARK. Council has officially sanctioned the name in a public meeting a few weeks ago. The official dedication of the Park and the Winged Victory Monument and other monuments will take place in late summer of 2014. This will be a very formal ceremony and will be attended by many official dignitaries and members of the general public. Keep in touch with our website. Make your plans to attend!
• We will add a photo of the billboard to our website as soon as it is unveiled in Gander. We will be coordinating this event with the Royal Canadian Legion, 9 Wing Gander and the Town Of Gander.
• Donations are being received and we want to sincerely thank those people for their generosity and encourage the rest of you to do the same. Charitable donation receipts are being issued for all donations by The Town of Gander – remember this provides a tax credit to you! A donation of $200.00 will provide a tax credit (Federal & Provincial) of $45.00, thus your net cost will be $155.00. Donations exceeding $200.00 will provide a tax credit of approximately 42.3%. Thus the net cost on an extra $100.00 will be $57.70.
• We will update our web-site periodically so you can see how we are reaching our goal. As well, we have commitments from several local service clubs for contributions – watch our website for these announcements!
• Our Structural Design Engineers and a sub-committee are completing an Application for Funding for the repair and restoration of the current War Memorial/Cenotaph "Winged Victory" which was originally erected in 1962 and is really in need of this rejuvenation and relocation to a more prominent position in the park. You might be interested in the history of this monument as well as the Airmen’s Memorial, which will be another addition to the Park, by clicking here.
• We are consulting with two renowned sculptors for the restoration of the current Cenotaph as well as the sculpting of Sgt. Gander and his soldier handler and are negotiating prices with them.
• Site work at the park has commenced with drainage pipes and underground water hook-up installed "gratefully" by the Town of Gander, whose support, in many ways, is contributing to the progress to date.
• We are negotiating with several levels of Federal and Provincial Governments and all indicators are very positive for financial assistance. We have received positive indications that a substantial contribution will be forthcoming that will be in the vicinity of 30% of our projected overall cost of $350,000.00. We will keep you updated.

We would really like to have your comments and/or suggestions, whether positive or negative and if you’d rather not post to the web-site, you may contact any Committee Member by e-mail as follows ...

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Member Name	Contact Info
Wilson Hoffe	whoffe@waltershoffe.com
Carol Walsh	carol.walsh@nf.sympatico.ca
Joy Janes	rajanes@nf.sympatico.ca
Clyde & Betty Burt	clyde.burt@bellaliant.net
Bill Kelly	bill.kelly@nl.rogers.com
Pat Brazil	patandleo.b@nl.rogers.com
Maxine Smith	maxine@briggsaero.com
Betty Ireland	709-256-4470

We look forward to hearing from you and be sure to watch for more updates to our web-site in the coming weeks.

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Wilson J Hoffe / July 20, 2012
Chairman

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NOTE*** Your comments are welcomed!
However, all comments will be queued for review before being published and name=anonymous will be deleted unless your name is included at the end of your comment! This is to prevent spam, etc.
Before you click Publish your Comment please click on Name/URL and enter your full name. Don't forget the scrambled words - this is so automated spams cannot be dumped here!
Thank you. Gerard

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