A trellis that accompanies the Blue Star Byway Marker at Santa Rita Park is receiving a major upgrade thanks to the Durango Garden Club and several local business people who volunteered their skills, supplies and time.
The trellis, which is installed feet from the stone Blue Star Memorial, is being replaced with a building-grade steel structure that will eliminate the need for regular maintenance and repairs to the old wooden structure.
The trellis, when it was wooden, needed to have pieces replaced periodically as the wood wore out and rotted from the elements, said Jon Schuetz, a Durango Vietnam veteran. Last year, the wooden trellis collapsed completely.
It was after the collapse that Schuetz decided a stronger material was needed for the structure. He approached different companies for quotes on steel replacement beams, but the costs were too expensive – around $120,000 was one quote, said his wife, Marsha Schuetz.
Finally, Jon Schuetz found Mike Bacus of Recla Metals, who agreed to donate steel for the new trellis. Bacus declined to comment on the value of the steel donated.
“That’s not as important as the fact that we did it,” he said.
Bacus said he donated the steel because the memorial garden seemed like a good project and he was looking for ways to engage with the Durango community.
“I’ve been looking for ways to get involved with the community ever since I got here,” he said. “The ways (to get involved) when you’re new are kind of few and far between, so you know, getting in on something like this gets our foot in the door for doing projects.”
Schuetz successfully scouted out a source of steel, but he still needed someone who could help weld the materials. That’s where Mark Bauer of B and B Welding entered the picture.
Bauer said he has partnered with the Durango Garden Club on projects many times during his 15 years working for the Durango Department of Parks and Recreation, and when the club approached him asking for help with the trellis, he agreed.
“It’s nice that the memorial’s here,” he said. “A lot of people don’t know how many high-ranking, retired veterans live in Durango.”
Greg Dotson, La Plata County veterans service officer, said as of 2019 there were at least 3,451 veterans living in the area. But that data includes only people who are signed up for health care, disability consultation, pension, education and other services through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“That’s going to leave a lot of people out because there are a lot of veterans who are not receiving any VA benefits, so the VA is unable to count them,” he said.
Bauer said he will have the welding close to complete by the end of the week.
Marsha Scheutz, president of the Durango Garden Club, said the Santa Rita Park’s memorial garden was started in 1992. The new trellis is being installed just in time for the garden’s plants and flowers to recover from winter, she said.
“Everything is starting to pop,” she said.
Marsha said she and Jon were “sick” when they learned the old trellis had collapsed.
“We did not realize how much of a part of this garden it was,” she said. “It (the collapse) just took away the whole identity of this garden.”
She called the trellis the “crowning glory” of the garden because of the way wisteria and rose vines creep up it and curl around it.
Scott McClain, Parks and Recreation assistant director, said the garden and Blue Star Memorial is a great addition to Santa Rita Park.
“And it’s a group of volunteers that have made this happen,” he said. “We’ve worked with the Garden Club for a long time. The Garden Club takes the majority of the work, but every once in a while they need a little bit of help – the irrigation’s broken or something.”
McClain said the memorial garden is a good example of a successful partnership between the Garden Club and the city. He values those partnerships and collaborative projects because it feels rewarding to see community members come together on projects.
“There’s a number of projects that we’ve done like that with the parks and the city,” he said. “Those are the ones that I go home thinking, ‘Man, this is what makes it worth it.’”
He said he appreciates what the Scheutzes, Bacus, Bauer and the Garden Club have done for the Blue Star Memorial and garden at Santa Rita Park.
“This just feels like a much better solution,” McClain said of the steel trellis. “Something that’s going to be here for a long time.”
The Blue Star Program was adopted by National Garden Clubs Inc. in 1945 after World War II to honor past, present and future veterans, according to the garden club’s website. The club was known back then as the National Council of State Garden Clubs.
A highway system known as the Blue Star Highway was formed and Blue Star Memorial Highway Markers were placed along it, according to National Garden Clubs. The Blue Star was chosen because it turned into an iconic symbol during World War II that was flown on flags and banners for families with children fighting overseas.
Durango’s Blue Star was dedicated on May 20, 2007, and then rededicated on Nov. 11, 2009, after a highway expansion project.
cburney@durangoherald.com
