Artillery guns repaired

0

For as long as Betty Jackman can remember, a pair of vintage field guns have stood guard over the yard at the Greenfield City Building. So when the city council chairwoman saw that they were in disrepair she decided to do something about it.

“I wanted to get them fixed because they were falling apart,” Jackman said Wednesday.

Greenfield City Manager Ron Coffey said the wheels on the guns were rotting away and that it was Jackman who first brought the idea of repairing them to the attention of village officials.

“We said we have to get after that and the next thing I know the guns were sitting there on blocks,” Coffey said.

Greenfield Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4736 agreed to pay for half of the approximately $1,200 repair bill and then village staff members helped locate a wheelwright with the skills to make the repairs on the artillery pieces.

The village paid the other half of the bill, according to Coffey.

Jackman said she doesn’t know how long the guns have been on the City Building lawn or where they came from, but added that they’ve been there all her life.

Coffey said he didn’t know the history behind them either.

“It seems like forever,” he said. “They’ve been there as long as I can remember. They just seem like a fixture here.”

The repairs were made by Levi Hershberger, who Coffey said he believes is a member of the local Amish community.

“We appreciate the VFW and Betty being involved in the project and trying to help Greenfield look better,” Coffey said.

Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522 or on Twitter @13gillilandj.

Pictured next to the repaired artillery guns flanking a war memorial on the Greenfield City Building lawn are (front row, l-r) Greenfield Village Council Chairwoman Betty Jackman, Raymond Beatty of the Greenfield VFW and Holly Ellinger of the Greenfield staff; (back row, l-r) Mike Erskine of the VFW and Jim Faulconer and Bobby Paul of the Greenfield staff.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2017/01/web1_VFW-Guns-1.jpgPictured next to the repaired artillery guns flanking a war memorial on the Greenfield City Building lawn are (front row, l-r) Greenfield Village Council Chairwoman Betty Jackman, Raymond Beatty of the Greenfield VFW and Holly Ellinger of the Greenfield staff; (back row, l-r) Mike Erskine of the VFW and Jim Faulconer and Bobby Paul of the Greenfield staff.
Greenfield VFW footed half the bill

By Jeff Gilliland

[email protected]

No posts to display