A commemoration that goes back more than 100 years will be observed Saturday at 11:11 a.m. in Ave Maria with the dedication of a new veteran's memorial.
Ave Maria Development and the Ave Maria Veterans Association is holding the grand opening/dedication will be at that time at 4840 Ave Maria Blvd. The public is invited to attend.
The significance of the 11:11 time on November 11 — this year a Saturday — is that on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918,— that year a Monday — the fighting of forces involved in WWI officially stopped after Germany signed an armistice agreement with Allies earlier in the day.
The official holiday came into being in 1954 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation changing previously named Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
The new Ave Maria veterans memorial being dedicated at the Collier County site has been a collaborative effort to took a few years to complete.
The site was supported and funded by Ave Maria community members, Ave Maria Stewardship Community, and Ave Maria Development.
“We had the vision of seeing if we could fund the veterans memorial here in town, it took us four years to raise the money and it'd be almost five years to actually have it completed. So it's been quite a challenge," Tom Schlessinger, Ave Maria Veterans Association vice president and memorial project manager, said.
Schlessinger added that community residents have been great with donations ranging from from 10 cents from children at the farmers market up to $25,000 from a family in Del Webb, with a lot of interest in the site.
"I mean, there's constant stream of people going into the memorial that I think it's going to be so well received. It's going to be a real draw for our community," he said. "One of the bricks in the memorial that says in war, there are no unwanted soldiers. There's a lot of people that we serve with that got purple hearts for being wounded. But a lot of people that served in a war zone, they came out of it. They didn't have any physical wounds, but they definitely had mental wounds."
Schlesinger said the memorial gives people an opportunity to realize that their service has been appreciated by the community by other veterans as well.
“Through this process, it has been incredible to witness the town come together in support of our Veterans and townspeople to make this a reality," Dave Genson, president of development for Barron Collier Companies, the developer of Ave Maria, said. "As the developer of the town of Ave Maria, we see the value the Veterans Memorial brings to our community members."
The Ave Maria Stewardship Community District provided an easement on the land to help with the memorial in addition to Ave Maria Development assisted with permitting elements and some of the design, and electrical service for the memorial.
“People are just incredible here in Ave Maria. We have felt so much support by the community. It’s a great feeling when people donate, especially the kids. They drop off dollars or change, it all adds up,” Schlessinger said.
The group raised $140,000 throughout the years in different fundraisers, including events and the Flagpoles for Veterans program. This program is where veterans donate their time to install flagpoles for those who purchase them. 435 flagpoles have been installed throughout Ave Maria since 2020.
To learn more about the Ave Maria Veterans Association please visit AveMariaVets.org.
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