Memorial members hold elections, discuss marketing

The Holcombe Area Veterans Memorial Committee held elections for officer positions, during a meeting Feb. 18. Jim Mataczynski, committee chairperson, said, originally, the group planned to hold elections for officers every two years.

“So far, we’re at 2 1/2 years,” said Mataczynski.

Since there was only one nomination for each position, members voted unanimously to elect Mataczynski as chairperson; Dave Conrad as vice chair; Judy Simpson as secretary; and Dave Staudacher as treasurer.

Members also voted to move the next Holcombe Area Veterans Memorial meeting, Thursday, March 18, to the Lake Holcombe Town Hall, to see if it is easier to hear each other during the meeting, in that building.

Paul Giencke, mason, who joined the group for the latest meeting, said he suggests the group use local field stone to build parts of the memorial, such as for the walls surrounding the monument and for the pillars by the driveway.

“It’s natural to the area,” said Giencke, adding that farmers donating stone would also reduce costs.

Giencke says he has talked to other area masons, and they are all on board with the plan, too.

“These guys will help for free,” said Giencke. “Donated labor.”

Members agreed to let Giencke meet with the other masons, as well as those interested from the veterans group, to create a plan and estimate the cost of construction.

Mataczynski says he met with Andy Strom, the group’s web designer, who has done a fantastic job, with nothing in return. When Mataczynski asked Strom what they can do to help him in return, Strom suggested they join the Rusk County Chamber of Commerce. Strom told Mataczynski the membership costs $55 per year, and the memorial will be promoted throughout that time.

“I think we should do that,” said Mataczynski, adding the membership cost will repay itself in advertising value quickly.

Members voted in favor of joining the Rusk County Chamber of Commerce.

Group members also heard updates on how projects are going. Conrad says he contacted the Veterans Service Offi cer for Chippewa County, in the search for funds. While the memorial didn’t qualify for the funding, the veterans service officer offered to put information on the department Facebook page.

“If other people are looking at it, that might be easy and cheap for our project, and, there’s no reason we can’t go through Rusk County, and do the same thing,” said Conrad.

Conrad reported he helped create a tri-fold brochure, as a way to market the memorial. He said he spent a good chunk of time working to get as much information as possible about the memorial into the document, without getting too wordy.

“We need to market it, get the word out,” said Conrad of the memorial project.

In line with that thought, Conrad says the group is planning to participate in the Holcombe St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which takes place Saturday, March 13. Mataczynski says they are also working on getting a banner made to use in parade routes and other things.

Simpson also suggested the group could spread the word of the memorial, by putting signs on the Rusk County Transit Authority buses.

“They have buses that travel through Ladysmith, and all over the county,” said Simpson.

She says there are sign spaces available for rent on the side of the buses. The group could have a sign made that is 16 inches high and 45 inches wide, through the transit authority. After the sign is created, there is a monthly fee to place the signs on the buses, with six-month and year-long contracts available.

“If we do the six months, what they would do, is they would rotate the signs from a bus that just did just city routes, to the ones that also did the country routes,” said Simpson, adding that would give them maximum exposure.

Group members also discussed other marketing options for how to draw attention to the memorial, and shared ideas for places they could get signage and posters made.

Conrad also reported that new member Jennifer Steen volunteered to help apply for grants.

“She has taken the bull by the horns,” said Mataczynski.

Mataczynski says it does take time to write for the grants. He says Steen also came up with the idea of using Google Docs to collect veteran information for the memorial tablets, with links to the documents on the group’s Facebook page.

“That’s a big deal for us right now, is getting all these veterans names and ranks, and stuff like that,” said Mataczynski.

Simpson says she has a list of about 80 names, so far. She encouraged everyone who knows a veteran, to at least share a name with her, so the group can reach out to them and begin collecting information.

Veterans who have ties to the Holcombe area, are encouraged to reach out, with more eligibility information available on the Holcombe Area Veterans Memorial website, holcombeareaveteransmemorial.com, and the group’s Facebook page. Final eligibility for inclusion on the tablets will be determined by a committee.