A crowd of about a thousand filled Mason City’s Central Park this morning to dedicate the Mason City Area Veterans Monument. The names of more than 23- hundred veterans are engraved on ten black granite stones along with two dedication stones. Doug Waychus co-chaired the task force that put up the monuments and says it’s a very emotional day for everyone. He says it’s exciting to see the crowd’s reaction. Waychus was overwhelmed by today’s turnout not only of veterans but the public as well. Mason City mayor Jean Marinos says it’s a beautiful addition to the downtown area and says it adds a wonderful dimension to the park. She says she drove by at night and it was “absolutely stunning.”The monument task force went to city leaders earlier this year to get the go- ahead with the project, with it temporarily being stalled at the city council level…but all the details got ironed out and Marinos says she’s glad the council and park board approved the monument. There were some questions about putting it in Central Park but she says it adds a “wonderful dimension” to the park. Over 97-percent of the cost of the project was funded by $100 donations from veterans and their families.
