Down in the “Corn Capital of the World” of Olivia, Minnesota, there wasn’t a veterans memorial.
Until a 17-year-old decided to raise money to build one himself.
“I wanted them all to be honored,” said Dominique Claseman told The Washington Post.
Claseman’s father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all served in the Armed Forces.
It probably goes deeper down his family line than that too.
Claseman had to come up with a project to earn his Eagle Scouts award and decided to go big. Well, at least his dad did.
“I told Dominique when he was starting to kind of talk about his Eagle Scout project that because he’s the Scoutmaster’s son that he needs to go big or go home,” dad Mark Jurgensen told NPR.
Claseman started by visiting other local memorials to get some idea for his design.
“I was originally picturing just a walkway with 21 boot steps and pavers on the side, along with a main stone and a couple flags,” Claseman said.
He then began a fundraising campaign for $15,000 to build the park by putting up flyers and speaking at local events since digital communications aren’t allowed for Eagle Scout projects.
Clasemen said he raised most of his money by word-of-mouth or by going door-to-door.
He ended up raising more than five times the amount he originally set out to raise.
He redesigned the park to make it a lot fancier looking with his new $77,777 budget.
The park was ready for its big reveal on Memorial Day and showcases 280 engraved pavers that lead to flag poles and places to sit along with landscaping.
There are also 21 boot prints that are stamped into the concrete leading to the flag poles. These are meant to represent a 21-gun salute.
“By the time everything was said and done, he definitely went big,” laughed Jurgensen.
The community was overwhelmingly supportive of Claseman’s initiative.
Much of the funding came from families who donated $250 to have a stone paver with a veteran’s name on it.
“There’s one person that came up to me and they said that they are so happy to see this,” Claseman said. “They’ve been living in this town for 10 to 15 years and they were waiting for something like this to even happen.”
A local crew volunteered to pour the concrete if Claseman provided the supplies.
Dad used his own boots to make the footprints. A granite company was hired to make the benches and the stone monument.
Claseman and his fellow scouts worked together to put in the landscaping and install the 280 granite pavers along the walkway which took them about three weekends.
“There were about 10,000 pounds of rock, so, yeah, it was a lot of work,” Claseman said.
Between planning, fundraising, and construction, it took about two years for the project to be completed.
The project was a massive success and many were impressed that it was created by a teen.
“Dom’s project proved to us that when creativity meets ambition, wonderful things can happen,” Olivia Mayor Jon Hawkinson said.
Learn more about Dom’s patriotic memorial project in the video below.
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