Vermilion Veterans Monument

I don't do very much on Vermilion on my "Lorain County" blog. So when I saw this rendering of that city's Veterans Monument in a May 9, 1951 Lorain Journal, I thought it would be a good topic. The accompanying article about the then-proposed monument is below. (Note Lorain bandleader Jimmy Dulio is mentioned.)

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Vermilion Monument To GIs Gaining Momentum
By Staff Correspondent

VERMILION – Thru the generosity of the management of Crystal Beach Ballroom in donating the hall, a large benefit dance will be held May 26 to raise funds for the proposed memorial to Vermilion veterans of all wars.

Also contributing to this affair is Jimmie Dulio, who has offered his services to the committee. He has stated that due to union law members must be paid but they have offered to do so for the minimum. However Dulio is donating his time.

The committee, under the chairmanship of Mrs. Eugene Boyd is under the auspices of the Vermilion Junior Women's league. However its membership is composed of representatives of all the women's clubs in the community. They have been working diligently to obtain this memorial for more than a year.

All organizations of the community have been invited to help financially with this as it is the desire of the committee to make it a community - wide tribute to the men and women who have given their time and in some cases their lives to their country.

Cards have been sent out to the citizens giving them an opportunity to send in their personal pledges.

The monument is to be a clock mounted on a cenotaph, with a bench on each side of it.

The clock will be mounted in white Vermont marble, of the same type used in the Roosevelt memorial at Hyde Park, and in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington. It is nine feet high and three feet wide. It was designed by the Wolslagel Monument Co. especially for Vermilion.

The cost will approximate $2500 which will include the incidental expenses of mounting. The clock has been purchased and paid for and a good balance is still available toward the total cost, but a lot is still needed.

Permission has been obtained from the village council to place it in Exchange Park in a strategic location.

When outsiders have offered to help with this, it is the hope of the committee that Vermilion men and women will match that generosity with their own contributions and in support of the dance.

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Today, the monument is still a beautiful and impressive piece of art fronting US 6. It was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1952.