Thanks to some industrious and talented teenagers, Vietnam veterans from Rochester have a handsome new memorial commemorating their service just inside the front door at Rochester Town Hall.
Five students from Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School worked on the memorial that was dedicated on March 29 by the Rochester Select Board.
“A beautiful job Old Colony did to honor our Vietnam veterans – very impressive,” said Paul Ciaburri, the chairman of the Select Board who publicly thanked Old Colony teachers and students for their work on the project.
Old Colony juniors Davi Pinho-Coelho and Nicholas Fringuelli worked on the carpentry part of the memorial, while William Fringuelli, Wyatt Smiley and Alec Arsenault of the Machine & Tool Technology Department fashioned the brass nameplates.
I think it’s great that they served, it’s a really hard thing to do,” said Pinho-Coelho, who wants to become a finish carpenter and is honing his skills on cabinetry and baseboards.
Doug Sims, who along with Paul Soucy from the Mill & Wood Department and Mike Ferreira from the Machine and Tool Technology Department helped supervise the students’ work, explained that Dave Watling, a local veteran widely known for his work on Rochester’s waterbodies, applied the polyurethane finish.
Watling used the occasion to publicly recognize Ann Soares for her efforts that have increased the number of veterans attending local meetings from typically just a few to 38 at the March 1 meeting. The American flags atop the new memorial were placed there by Soares, something Watling wanted to include as a symbol of her dedication to local veterans.
Tri-Town Veterans Agent Chris Gerrior credited Watling for setting the memorial in motion.
“This is something that a Rochester resident and a veteran thought that needed to be done. He talked to some people, and he made it happen and I think it’s great, so thank you Dave,” said Gerrior, sparking a round of applause.
Ciaburri noted that Vietnam Veterans Day was proclaimed by President Nixon in 1974, but it was hardly recognized. Gerrior further explained that until 2017 when another proclamation was made, it was considered “a lesser day.”
Like Vietnam veterans themselves, whose service during an era of harsh protest went largely unappreciated for many years, the day honoring them had long flown under the community radar. Not anymore.
“It’s really just a sign of the times … like in ’74 it was a much different attitude … but now we’re in a different time, and we can look at it differently,” said Gerrior. “That’s a good thing, finally,” said Ciaburri. “I agree,” said Gerrior.
Watling said he’s been impressed by his interaction with the students whose work produced the memorial.
“I feel better about the future,” he said. “These kids kind of lifted my spirits.”
Old Colony students have been making a difference with their skills on other projects, such as the cupola atop the Plumb Library across Rochester’s village green from Town Hall.
Sims noted that Pinho-Coelho is one of 24 Old Colony carpentry students working in synch with an Old Colony electrical class and students from the plumbing department at Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech on a renovation of the Florence Eastman Post 280 American Legion building on Depot Street in Mattapoisett.
“We’re renovating two bathrooms and a handicap ramp,” said Pinho-Coelho.
The project is 75% complete but facing construction complications with the second bathroom. That has resulted in more work for Old Colony’s Architectural and Engineering shop.
“They come out and do site visits and reports,” said Sims, who explained that Old Colony students begin taking on these projects as juniors, helping in the community at municipal properties and nonprofit organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity.
By Mick Colageo