GOVERNMENT

Bozrah man wants veterans plaques put back on display

RYAN BLESSING
The Gilman family presented plaques to the town of Bozrah in 1949. They’re now locked in a vault in Town Hall.

A bronze plaque honoring 100 local veterans who served in World War II is locked in the Bozrah Town Hall vault, and Rich Gilman said that’s unacceptable. Gilman, a member of the family that created the plaque more than six decades ago, wants the plaque, and several others the town took down, to again see the light of day.

“It’s a real simple issue,” Gilman, a local resident and business owner, said. “The plaques should be seen by the public.”

But the questions of who owns the original plaques, which were “presented to the people of the town of Bozrah by the Gilman family” and dedicated on Oct. 8, 1949, has become clouded.

Gilman said they still belong to his family, and he would like to see them displayed for the public on land he owns.

At the July Board of Selectmen meeting, Selectman Carl Zorn said that the plaques being presented to the people of the town “could be construed that it was given to the people of the town as a gift.”

The Board of Selectmen plans to take up the matter at its next meeting, which is scheduled for Aug. 20.

The removal of the plaques was the result of the construction of a new veterans memorial on a patch of land next to Town Hall, where the monument from the Gilman family stood.

On May 27, the town dedicated its new veterans memorial to local soldiers who served during all of the nation’s conflicts.

An extensive renovation of Town Hall was completed last year, and its parking lot area was redone, as well. The new memorial became part of the work along the way.

“It’s been two years in the making,” First Selectman Bill Ballinger said. Many people contributed money for the project, and local contractors donated time, equipment and material, he said.

Work began as an Eagle Scout project in April 2012 and included funding from the Rivers-Janowicz American Legion Post 138, according to Ballinger.

Board members asserted that the American Legion sent letters to the residents informing them of their plans, and received no rebuttal in the year of consideration prior to the removal of the plaques, which Gilman disputes.

Ballinger said the town should talk with someone from the historical society or a lawyer to help sort the issue out.*