Memorials planned for NCVC in Igo

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below."

<B>- Lt.-Col. John McCrae</B>

So begins one of the most famous World War I poems, written in the form of a French <I>rondeau</I>, by Canadian physician and soldier Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. He penned the lines on May 3, 1915, one day after witnessing the death of his friend, Lt. Alexis Helmer, 22.

The poem was first published on Dec. 8, 1915, in Punch, a London-based magazine. Since then, it has been used extensively on Remembrance Day observances in countries that aligned themselves with England and the Allied forces during that war.

Whether it is called Remembrance Day, Decoration Day or Memorial Day, Americans have traditionally, since the Civil War, taken time out in May of each year to memorialize those who died in battle, in captivity during wartime or remain missing and are presumed dead from within a battle zone.

Throughout Shasta County, people will observe the Memorial Day holiday by visiting cemeteries and memorial services. Flags will be flown at quarter-staff from dawn until noon local time. And volunteers will place hundreds, if not thousands, of American flags on each gravesite at national and state veterans cemeteries including the Northern California Veterans Cemetery in Igo.

In the days prior to Memorial Day, the local veterans cemetery was a buzz of activity.

Sculptor John Welch of Shingletown was fitting and cutting granite cap stones for a new Pearl Harbor Memorial being erected in front of the cemetery's administration office.

When completed later this year, the memorial will also include smaller markers bearing the outlines and names of all U.S. Navy vessels berthed at Pearl Harbor during the early Sunday morning hours of Dec. 7, 1941.

Still in the planning stages awaiting either funding or approval by federal or state officials are two other significant memorials yet to be erected at the Igo veterans cemetery, said administrator Stephen Jorgensen.

Former California State Senator K. Maurice Johannessen of Redding and his wife Marianne announced to the Valley Post this week that they intend to build a 2,700-square-foot, non-denominational "Soldier's Chapel" very similar in style and size to the Soldier's Chapel near Big Sky, Mont., outside Bozeman.

"I came up with the idea the first time I was out there (at the Igo cemetery) in the heat. It was just too hot for people to get together for a memorial service," Johannessen said in a telephone interview.

The building will contain two rows of recycled wooden pews with seating for approximately 100 people. At the front of the chapel, a raised podium will be situated near a large window of stained glass.

"We hope to use a lot of native wood inside. The building's exterior will be very similar to what is already out there," Johannessen added.

A storage room off to one side of the chapel will store the appropriate religious paraphernalia suitable for Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Christians and any other spiritual group that might use the facility, Johannessen said.

Redding architect Terry Topalski estimates the memorial chapel's finished cost at between $250,000 and $300,000 - a figure that the Johannessens say they are willing to provide if no other significant donors step forward to assist them.

"If I can get some donations, that will be fine. I am looking for some people who can give me some help with labor and I am hoping Shasta County will be able to donate some or all of the plan check fees," said Johannessen, a former member of the Shasta County Board of Supervisors.

"If not, we are prepared to go ahead with the construction on our own. This is something I have wanted to do for a very long time," said Johannessen, who worked for many years with former Supervisor Molly Wilson on bringing the state cemetery to Shasta County.

"It is going to be classy and good. I think it will be a respectful place for a family or group to gather before they bury a loved one," he added.

Also on the drawing board and conceptualized in a miniature model is a memorial walkway along which civic groups and service organizations, individuals, schools and others could erect memorial benches, mount engraved plaques on low border walls or place engraved paving stones or other markers, cemetery administrator Stephen Jorgensen said.

The Sunset Rotary Club of Redding has already started to landscape the walkway by planting 12 redwood trees in a grove that will ultimately include four more trees, he explained.

Those plantings are awaiting the necessary grading and engineering to create a walkway that will wind along the back sides of a hillock that currently holds a committal shelter, a roofed area that has one back wall and three open sides, some simple benches and a few support pillars.

"We're still working on the overall design for the benches and the designs for any of the memorials that might be placed along the walkway, but we have formed a non-profit 501(C) 3 organization so that funding for those projects can be expended without going through a bid process each time we want to build something new," Jorgensen explained.

Such an arrangement will allow for more consistency in a long-term project that will include elements and funding from many diverse groups, he said.

"It also allows us more consistency in obtaining supplies from a single source over a long period of time," Jorgensen added.

Finally, Redding Rotary is planning to construct a shelter for the memorial guard units and rifle squads that typically volunteer their services during a memorial service or committal, he said.

Such groups as the Anderson VFW, Redding VFW and the Marine Corps League would likely use such a structure during inclement weather or to escape the searing noon-day summer heat, Jorgensen said.