By Patricia Bogumil
Editor
Something familiar has gone missing from Waterford for the last few months, and Steve Denman is searching for help in getting it back in place.
An historic cannon that sat for years off First Street and River Road by Whitford Park has been removed with the idea of repairing it.
Denman hopes local organizations will step up and help with the cost needs of the project and get this historica cannon back in shape, and b ac k in place.
To put it simply: “We’re looking for money,” Denman said. Other kinds of help are also appreciated, he added.
For example, Jim Phillips of River City Auto Body has stepped up and volunteered to donate time and materials to sandblast and paint the cannon, Denman said.
But other costs to fix up the cannon so it is structurally safe to have in the community (neighborhood kids have been known to play on and around it) will run thousands of dollars.
“We need to know if the community is interested in preserving it,” Denman explained. “I think it would be fantastic if the community would step to help with this project.”
Denman – who serves as a village trustee and who retired last year as chief for the Waterford Fire Department – has been working with Jim Bergles of the village’s Department of Public Works to spearhead the cannon refurbishing project.
The cannon is a 3.2-inch field gun with a history that Denman has researched.
The War Memorials of Wisconsin website notes this cannon as being one of only 100 built. It was manufactured in 1885 and may have been used in the Spanish American war.
“We don’t know if it ever saw battle or not,” Denman said.
Neither does the village have a record of who originally donated it in the past.
The website also finds that Waterford’s cannon is one of only two known to still remain in Wisconsin, said Denman.
Denman said the cannon is in poor condition and the cost to fully refurbish it is at least $10,000.
There has been talk about donating Waterford’s cannon to an organization that would take possession and rebuild it, Denman noted. “I feel so strongly that we need to keep this extremely important part of history in Waterford,” he added.
Any service organization or business looking for a good cause for its mission to the community can contact Denman at (262) 716-5475 or Bergles at (262) 210-1208
“I’m willing to put as much time and effort in as I can, but it can’t be done alone,” said Denman.
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