Civil War Monument Fund Growing

The ad-hoc Civil War Monument Committee is still working to raise money to put up a new Civil War monument on Memorial Boulevard. Today I spoke with Tom LaPorte and Peter Imperator, two guys who are dedicating a lot of time to this cause.
They told me that while they still need more donations to complete the project, that things are going really well. Both of them said they're impressed with the generosity of the people of Bristol.
It looks like they might be able to get an even more impressive monument than they'd hoped when they started this effort. They hope to find some donors who can give labor or materials to landscape the area around the monument and maybe put in brick, stone or cement around it.
There is already a Civil War monument in Bristol, in West Cemetery, but committee members say its days are numbered because it is so old and made of brownstone. In any case, the names on the stone are fading and they feel it is important to keep those for all to see.
Look for committee members at the Mum Festival and hand them a few bucks if you can.
I wrote about this in a story for Thursday's edition of The Bristol Press, so look for it at www.bristolpress.com if you want to read more.