By Lisa Wilcox
Special to the Aroostook Republican
Members of The Veterans’ Memorial Park Foundation were busy Saturday cooking up chicken on a stick and roasting hot dogs for hungry visitors to the Caribou Cares about Kids Adventure Park held this year at the Caribou Wellness Center.
Foundation volunteers Doug Michaud, Cuppy Johndro and Christopher Johndro braved the unsettled weather to man their booth set up just outside the entrance to the center.
The Foundation began its work about three years ago to create a park for living veterans where the Civil War monument currently stands on South Main St. in Caribou. The project was put on hold when founding member Carroll St. Peter, an honorably retired veteran, passed away in late 2011 from pancreatic cancer.
Foundation members have recently resumed their efforts to raise money for the park, which will not only be a place for veterans and their families to gather, but will feature a star displayed over the Civil War monument with each point of the star representing a branch of the United States military service.
“It’s not a cemetery,” Cuppy Johndro explained, “but a place for living, breathing veterans to gather together and socialize.”
Foundation member Michaud advised completion of the park could take another three years. “It’s going to take time, money and patience,” he stated.
Future events for the organization include an upcoming concert to be held at Caribou Performing Arts Center. The date for the concert has not been set, nor have the bands slated to play been settled upon, but the concert will feature a couple of different local bands and a barbershop quartet.
Donations can be mailed in care of the foundation to: PO Box 459, Caribou, ME 04736.
