‘Wall That Heals’ panels donated to McLeod County Veterans Memorial Park; Tunnel to Towers mobile exhibit set for county fair in August
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Summary
County veterans project manager reported the donation of two center panels from the traveling 'Wall That Heals' to McLeod County Veterans Memorial Park and announced the Tunnel to Towers 9/11 mobile exhibit will be at the McLeod County Fair Aug. 14–17 with a procession and participating first responders.
Dave Skoog, McLeod County Veterans Memorial Park project manager, told the county board on May 20 that organizers received two center panels from the traveling Vietnam-era memorial known as The Wall That Heals and plan a dedication around Memorial Day.
Skoog said the panels were presented to McLeod County after Hutchinson hosted the Wall That Heals the previous year. He described the traveling exhibit as the only version supervised by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund that operates the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and said McLeod County’s handling of the display drew praise from the fund’s staff.
Skoog also announced the Tunnel To Towers 9/11 Never Forget mobile exhibit will visit the McLeod County Fair from Aug. 14–17. He said the 82-foot trailer-sized exhibit opens to form a museum inside, and that organizers expect an escorted procession into town on Aug. 13 featuring motorcycles, police and fire apparatus and four first responders who were at the towers on Sept. 11. Exhibit hours provided by Skoog were Thursday–Friday 12 p.m.–8 p.m. and Saturday–Sunday 11 a.m.–7 p.m., though he noted operators sometimes adjust hours.
Skoog credited broad volunteer support and cooperation from city staff, the fair board and other partners for prior successful memorial events. He said the county is installing a granite base and a laser-etched graphic panel near the donated Wall panels and will add solar lights so the panels will be illuminated at night.
Why it matters: The donated Wall That Heals panels and the Tunnel to Towers display provide local, large-scale public history and remembrance opportunities, and the mobile exhibit’s public schedule and procession will require fairboard coordination and route planning.
Next steps: Skoog said final signage and lighting would be installed before a Memorial Day dedication and that the fairboard and county staff were coordinating logistics for the August exhibit and procession.