POUGHKEEPSIE – The annual Memorial Day remembrance scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Soldiers Fountain was relocated to City Hall, leaving some people in the rain at the fountain, unaware of the change.
The event is hosted by the City of Poughkeepsie in conjunction with American Legion Lafayette Post 37 and is traditionally held at Soldiers Fountain, situated at Market and Montgomery Streets, which was the center of the city many years ago.
As the rain fell on Sunday, Deputy Poughkeepsie Fire Chief Joe Franco, a Navy veteran, joined city resident Mary Williams, NYS Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson, and Republican Ola Nesheiwat Hawatmeh, the Republican candidate for Dutchess County Comptroller, for a moment of reflection. The attendees did not realize that the ceremony had been moved and there were no signs or notices posted that indicated the ceremony had been relocated.
Franco served in the Navy on both the USS Iowa and USS Vandergrift. On Sunday, he waited several minutes for additional attendees before he walked toward the fountain for remembrance. “I am going to go and say a silent prayer for all of the men and women that laid down their lives for our freedom. You are welcome to stand with me in a moment of prayer,” said the former sailor.
Assemblyman Jacobson remarked “Today is a solemn day for our country. We need to take a moment today and every day to recognize that fellow Americans gave their lives for us. There is no greater sacrifice.”
The Soldiers Fountain monument, one of four in existence, is a tribute to Union soldiers who gave their lives during the Civil War. Mayor Rob Rolison previously referred to the symbol as “An important part of Poughkeepsie.”
The fountain, capped by the Goddess Demeter, features 24 water jets that were imported from Paris during construction in the 1800s. The monument was dedicated in Poughkeepsie on July 4, 1870.
Two other fountains cast from the same mold in New York City were placed in Savannah, Georgia, and Madison, Indiana with the fourth delivered to Cusco, Peru. The most notable, and often referred to as the Poughkeepsie twin, is in Savannah.
