Letter: These folks helped make the dream of Oswego's Veterans Serenity Park a reality

Words will never say thank you enough to everyone involved in making the Veterans Serenity Park a reality last Sunday, Nov. 10. The weather cooperated, hundreds of people showed up to open the park and in general, it was Oswego doing what it does best.

Serenity Park is a tribute to our veterans and military personnel. It is a park that encourages solitude and refuge for both military personnel and our residents. The waterfall cascading over the eternal flame next to the tranquility of the Fox River will simply leave you in awe.

I want to thank the committee that spent almost two years planning and building this park. Rick Gardner, Jim Davidson, Herschel Luckinbill, Ken Bertrand, Steven Jack, Phil Edwards, Rick Kuhn, Mike Schoppe, Rich Zielke, Joe West, Lisa Garcia, Ron Bennett, Kris Kearns, Chad Feldotto, Phil Solecki, Neal Dodd and Karen Clementi were invaluable resources on this project.

The Oswegoland Park Foundation, in conjunction with the Oswegoland Park District, were the driving force in assisting the committee every step of the way. Oswego is extremely blessed to have such an insightful and resourceful park district that quietly makes things happen for its residents.

A quick shout out to Mike Fee and his talented operations staff at the park district for putting the benches together with about an hour to spare last Friday.

There are way too many sponsors to acknowledge that helped bring this project to completion. Chief among them were Phil Edwards and family of Twin Oaks Landscaping that paved the way in spectacular fashion. State Reps. Stephanie Kifowit and Keith Wheeler brought Springfield into play and the Fox Valley Breakfast Club stepped up from day one.

Strong thank you to Illinois Veteran Affairs Director Linda Chapa LaVia, Congressman Bill Foster and State Reps. Kifowit and Mark Batinick for offering words during the ceremony, Gunnar Magnuson for song, Danielle Wilson and Rich Zielke from the park and our posted Sentry’s representing each branch of the military. Extremely classy gentlemen. Thank you to Village Grind for the coffee and refreshments. And finally, a heartfelt thank you to Village President Troy Parlier for welcoming the park into Oswego. A special thank you to the Oswego American Legion and the Oswego Fire Department for the Honor Guard and Oswego Police for assistance in traffic control and the Kendall County VAC & Durham School Bus Service for shuttling attendees.

Finally, if you haven’t had an opportunity to visit the park you need to. It is the culmination of a vision shared by all veterans that they are proud to share with Oswego.

Dave Krahn

Chairman Veterans Serenity Park