VOLGA – About 50 people gathered just southeast of the Brookings County Museum in Volga early Monday afternoon for the groundbreaking of what has been a dream and hope for about the past five years: the Volga Veterans Memorial.

Maj. Rebecca Trygstad, with 20 years of service and administrative officer for the 139th Brigade Support Battalion of the South Dakota Army National Guard, presided over the ceremony.

She began by thanking the attendees for coming to “a very special day for local veterans, service members and their families. Today is the day we break ground on a memorial that started with an idea about four or five years ago by the American Legion.

“Without these visionaries we would not be able to do this today. Without the support of local veterans, local businesses, the Volga Area Community Foundation and Gross Construction, this day would not be possible.

“This memorial serves as a location to honor local veterans and service members, a special place to honor those who paid the ultimate price, a place for local residents and visitors to come to.

“Our hope is that this memorial will become a special part of Memorial and Veterans Day programs in Volga.”

Trygstad said seeing the memorial come to fruition is an ongoing effort.

“I started on the (Volga Veterans Memorial) Committee last August. I was asked to be part of the committee because I’m a current service member. They needed someone to kind of pick up the reins and move forward with it.

“We meet as a committee probably once a month if not a couple times a month, depending on what we have for events and those types of things going on.

“I got involved in this because I’m a Legion member here. I also believe that it’s an important way to honor our veterans and service members both past and present who have served our country.”

Time to build

Looking back to the five years of ongoing planning, the major said the time had now come to build.

“We had raised enough funds to get started, and we started to get more interest on the tiles for it. It’s time,” Trygstad said.

The time-to-build funds totaled $36,000 raised by the seven-member committee, made up of American Legion members, service members from the area and retired former service members.

About $35,000 to $40,000 was the estimated total cost for the project; however, she explained that contractor Gross Construction “is going to do some donating of their services and their time, so it should be less than that.”

The major said construction should begin “probably within the next couple weeks.” She added that completion would come “definitely before Veterans Day, if not earlier.”

Randy Gross, who operates the company with his two brothers, said he is receiving help and construction materials from fellow contractors: digging, concrete, gravel and pea rock.

He called the cost to his company and his fellow contractors “a little sacrifice compared to those plaques on that wall.”

“Hopefully next week we’ll start digging,” he added.

Referencing the tiles, Trygstad said they can be purchased for $100 each. A total of 420 will be sold; they will be placed – 70 per panel – on the six panels making up the memorial. She said 194 tiles have been sold to date.

Each tile will have the service member’s name, branch of service and name of wars or conflicts in which they served.

A distinguishing feature of the memorial will be the display of the flag of the United States and the flags of the five armed forces: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force. Trygstad said all the flagpoles, less one, have been donated by local residents and groups.

Finally, two granite benches were available for purchase, but one has already been purchased by Chapter 2 of South Dakota Rolling Thunder, some of whose members rolled into Volga for the groundbeaking. The remaining bench can be purchased for about $2,300.

The Volga Area Community Foundation was present for the groundbreaking and the presentation of a check for $5,000 to the Memorial Committee, honoring the foundation’s commitment to the memorial. “They agreed to match whatever we raised, up to $5,000,” Trygstad explained. “Since Feb. 23 when we first met with them, we’ve raised over $5,000.”

Foundation board members Jim Schade, who with his wife Nancy, owns and operates Schadé Vinyard, and Mark Norgaard, a Realtor with Best Choice Real Estate, passed the $5,000 check to Trygstad following the groundbreaking.

For additional Information on the memorial or purchasing a tile, log on to the City of Volga website or the Volga Veterans Memorial Facebook page.

Contact John Kubal at jkubal@brookingsegister.com.