Work Getting Underway on Neoga Veterans Memorial

After two years of fundraising, work is getting underway on a veterans memorial for Neoga.

Neoga City Treasurer Diana Foor is a member of the committee working on the memorial. Foor said a groundbreaking is set for 10am Friday at the site of the memorial, in the southwest part of Jennings Park. She said it will not be a formal ceremony, but more a way to let Neoga residents know that the work is beginning.

A roadway in the park will run along the north side of the memorial, which has been designed by Milano and Grunloh Engineers of Effingham. Pyramid Marble and Granite of Effingham is helping with the components that will be located in the memorial.

A handicapped parking space and sidewalk will provide access for anyone to the memorial, which will have a walkway through it. Other components will include a sphere, a granite obelisk, a bronze battlefield cross donated by the Neoga American Legion Auxiliary, a cannon that has been elsewhere in the park that has been restored by local resident Randy Mendenhall, and a Vietnam veterans memorial that has been elsewhere in the park. Flags, a marble seating bench, and tablets that will bear the names of Neoga veterans since the Civil War will also be a part of the memorial. 

Foor said the names of the veterans will be put on the panels in no particular order; if they were placed in alphabetical order, there would be problems if anyone's name is added later.

Foor said Neoga residents have been generous, contributing more than $62,000 over the two-year fundraising effort. She said they are still raising funds for additional lighting for the memorial.

The Neoga veterans memorial should be completed later this year.