By JENN McDOWELL

Four girls from Candia finally saw their long-term community service project come to fruition with the rededication of the restored Civil War monument on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

Becky Petrin, Alicia Frazier, and sisters Erin and Megan Smith, now eighth-graders at Moore School, began the restoration project four years ago by collecting pocket change.

“We saw an article in the paper about how the monument was being destroyed, and we figured that wasn’t right,” said Erin Smith.

She added that the project was started to raise awareness in Candia about preserving historical markers and to get the community involved in something they would work on together.

“Nobody seemed to be doing anything about it, and we thought maybe if we start, then others would follow along and help,” Erin Smith said.

The girls placed collection jars around the school, town hall, library and other places around town, raising a few hundred dollars.

That’s when Dan Meehan, state commander of the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, a national organization devoted to Civil War education and monument preservation, got involved.

The Sons had just finished restoring the Civil War monument in Raymond, and Meehan  contacted Karen Smith, mother of two of the girls, about how the Sons could help with Candia’s project.

Meehan, a Rochester firefighter, was able to obtain two grants to help fund the project, a $10,000 state Moose grant and a $500 grant from the national Sons office.

The rest of the funding was obtained through fundraising, donations, and a warrant article passed last year to get the total $23,000 needed to restore the monument to its former glory.

Meehan said those working on the project tried to get as much money as possible without going to the town for help.

“When we go to do a project, our first thing is that we want to raise all the money. We don’t want to raise taxes,” he said.

He also got in contact with  the  Smithsonian Museum’s Save Outdoor Sculpture campaign. They sent Rika Smith McNally, a conservator, to restore the monument.

McNally came to Candia and did studies on the monument to determine what needed to be repaired and what materials it was composed of. The brim on the soldier’s hat was missing, as well as his thumb, and the rifle was also in disrepair. All of those items were fabricated and welded to the monument.

“When you look at the monument now, it looks brand new,” Meehan said.

Megan Smith said the project got a lot of support from the community, and the girls felt honored to be the ones who got the ball rolling.

Seeing the monument rededicated was a special moment for them, she added. “We were just so proud that we were the ones who started this and finally got it done after four years,” she said.

Meehan commended the four girls for sticking together on the project.

“For them to take pride in their town and their monument, it was phenomenal,” he said.