SEQUIM — Organizers of Sequim Museum & Arts welcome past and present veterans and their family members to apply for memorial tiles to be placed at the facility’s refurbished Veterans Monument along Sequim Avenue.
Volunteer Bob Stipe said there are currently about 200 tiles on the ground and 225 on the wall facing Sequim Avenue to the west with space to add 1,000 tiles on the wall’s east side.
Due to inclement weather, some tiles weathered poorly since they were first installed more than 20 years ago, but Stipe said they’ve since been replaced and preventative measures have been put in place to help tiles hold up better.
The museum’s executive director, Judy Reandeau Stipe, said tiles don’t have to be for people from Sequim as the monument is intended to honor all veterans.
The 6-inch tiles can include the veteran’s name, their military branch, special actions, i.e. World War II, and a unit crest patch with a copy of graphic. Cost is $25 with applications at sequimmuseum.com under the “Veterans Tile Application” tab.
Those interested also can reach the museum, at 544 N. Sequim Ave., by phone at 360-681-2257 or by email at director@sequimmuseum.com.
A dedication for new tiles is tentatively set for February or March.
The Veterans Monument was dedicated on Veterans Day in 2003 and its expansion rededicated in 2014.
Ted and Pauline Cordua with Carlsborg VFW led a team with museum volunteers to add the first part of the monument. Museum volunteer Bob Cooper continued the project, and Navy veteran Myron Spath paid for a flagpole in memory of his parents Laura and Louis and his son Wally.
Navy veteran Dan Smith, Louie Rychlik and Jerry Brownfield, all Sequim High School alumni and city pioneers, built the addition to the monument.
Reandeau Stipe said there are more additions planned for the monument, including a World War I plaque, and a historic fountain from the Bank of Sequim.
For the latest renovation, tiles were donated by Blake Tile and Stone and Home Depot. John Duquette of Sequim Redi-Mix donated the concrete, and Bob Reandeau donated rocks and gravel.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
