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Committee ponders design for veterans memorial

Florence Reminder and Blade-Tribune - 1/10/2018

FLORENCE - The patio in front of the Library and Community Center could someday be the site of a new memorial honoring Florence's veterans.

A committee of veterans and other local residents has been meeting to discuss a memorial since summer and may settle on a design this month, according to Town Councilman John Anderson. His son Brett, a landscape architect in Chandler, is donating his services to the committee.

The life story of local World War II Navy veteran Adolfo "Harpo" Celaya was the inspiration for the memorial to honor Florence's many veterans and retired veterans, Anderson said. Celaya, 90, was a teenage sailor aboard the U.S.S. Indianapolis when it was hit by Japanese torpedoes. Of some 1,200 men aboard, Celaya was one of only 317 to survive. The U.S. post office in Florence was renamed last year in his honor.

Other local residents interested in serving on the committee or helping with fund raising may call Community Services Director Bryan Hughes at 520-868-7589.