Crime & Safety

Memorial Garden Plans Begin to Blossom

The garden will honor all deceased life members of the police department and the town's fire departments

There are all sorts of plans for inside the public safety building, and now, there are plans for outside the building, as well.

A group of emergency service workers and other interested people has started a group to raise funds to build a memorial garden.

The garden, according to Oakdale Fire Chief Gary Murphy, will include the names of all deceased life members of the Montville Police Department and all the town’s fire departments.

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Mohegan Fire Chief Joseph Giangrasso is the chairman of the group, which, in addition to Murphy, includes Montville Fire Chief Ron Turner and Public Safety Building Committee Chairman Jack Platt.

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The group is going to get some help, Murphy said, from Nathan Zawaski, a Boy Scout who is planning to earn his Eagle Scout badge by working on the memorial garden.

Murphy said that he will be the chief fundraiser, helping to sell blocks and bricks to raise the $40,000 or so that he believes will be needed to make the garden come to life.

The precise location of the memorial garden has not been determined yet, Murphy said, but one spot under consideration is where the big hill of dirt has been, outside the public safety building.

The art that accompanies this story was created by Murphy to illustrates how the garden might look.


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