Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz

A podcast about positive things happening in and around Washington County, Wisconsin

The Wisconsin 9/11 Memorial & Education Center with Dustin Melzark

• Transcript

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  [00:00:00] Fuzz Martin: Hello, thanks for listening to another episode of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz. I’m glad you came back, but if it is your first time listening, thank you. My name is Fuzz Martin. Back in 2001, September of 2001 specifically, I was a 23 year old radio personality working on 92. 5 WBWI at the time in West Bend.

  I was working for Mike Elliott. I was doing an afternoon show. I’d eventually take over the morning show and program director position after Mike retired. I miss him by the way, RIP. But now I am the chief strategy officer at Epic Creative in West Bend. I’m also the vice president of the board of directors for Kewaskum Remembers 9 11 Inc, which is the nonprofit that runs the Wisconsin 9 11 Memorial and Education Center.

  Right here on US 45 in downtown Kewaskum. On this week’s episode, as we lead into the week ahead of the 20th anniversary of September 11th, 2001, I’m joined by Dustin Melzark. An architect and construction manager for Lakeside Development. He’s also the secretary and we’ll call him the project manager behind the Wisconsin 9 11 Memorial.

  He’s also native of Kewaskum and he joins me this week to talk all about the symbolism and Easter eggs that you’ll find at the Memorial. There’s a lot more to the Wisconsin 9 11 Memorial than you’d think. If you’re listening to this prior to September 11th, we invite you to join us on Saturday, September 11th at 10 a.

  m. at the Memorial. We’re going to pay tribute to fire, police, and first responders as we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the attacks on our nation.

  The Wisconsin 9 11 Memorial was dedicated just a few months ago, June 13th of 2021. We had a big event. Governor Evers was there. The Habermann family was there. And Dustin, you were there. And as part of this, I learned a lot, actually, I’ve been involved with this now for more than two years, and there were some things I didn’t know about the design of the memorial and your speech really laid out a lot of the symbolism that I wasn’t even aware of until that event, tell me how you got.

  involved with the memorial, and we’ll go into what all the symbolism of the memorial means.

  [00:02:53] Dustin Melzark: Sure. Larry Ammel, who’s sort of a local legend, recruited me in the fall of 2014. He was a retired Kewaskum High School music teacher and had been there for decades. So we knew each other from Kewaskum High School, and then he also knew my, my family.

  When he initially approached me for this idea of a 9 11 memorial in Kewaskum, he explained that the Port Authority of New York had granted them a steel artifact and needed help further defining their idea into a memorial space in an actual memorial in Kewaskum. So there was, there was another artist involved at the beginning, right?

  Correct. Yeah, there was another Kewaskum High School alum, David Eyre, and he had developed an idea he titled Artifact. And this idea highlighted the beam itself, and they had received a steel beam that was from the lower section of the North Trade Tower. And that became the center of the memorial as it stands today.

  [00:03:48] Fuzz Martin: The memorial itself moved, too, from when it was first going to launch. It was going to be in front of the fire department. We realized that was going to be a logistical issue.

  [00:03:59] Dustin Melzark: Well, we didn’t realize it, but we were educated on how it would negatively impact the first responders. And that’s definitely something that we didn’t want to do.

  And I think Initially, this idea just was an idea, and they were supporting it and kind of playing along. But as it gained momentum, and we put up a sign that said, Future Home of the Kewaskum 9 11 Memorial, it got to be really real. So these issues came to light, and we acknowledged that it was going to be an issue, and worked with the village and found this.

  Secondary site, which I actually think is a much better location for the memorial.

  [00:04:35] Fuzz Martin: I agree. There’s plenty of parking over by the memorial now. It’s in a nice, prominent spot where the traffic’s not driving quickly past it because there’s stoplights right there. There’s the coffee shop, the coffee corner.

  Well, it’s in

  [00:04:47] Dustin Melzark: the, it’s in the heart of town. It’s in close proximity to all the local Schools and churches and businesses in town and had we been out by the fire department. Yes, it’s still in town But it’s not in the heart of Kewaskum And I really think that the site that was there before was really just for the annex and it was just arbitrary green space Yeah, that green space now has a lot of meaning and symbolism behind it and it’s going to be a draw for people Tourists from all over the state.

  [00:05:17] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, tourists, uh, students. Every time I go past there, even though it’s, it’s like 98 percent done, it’ll be 99. 5 percent done once, by the time September 11th gets here. But every time I go past there, there are people at the memorial, they’re reading the, the signage, they’re, they’re looking at all the different pieces.

  And I always want to stop and tell them all the things that they’re looking at. But if I did that, I wouldn’t

  [00:05:42] Dustin Melzark: But it’s like, it’s set up as a Easter egg hunt of information that’s sprinkled throughout the memorial. The more that you read, the more that you learn. It’s just fascinating how those layers of symbolism and layers of detail emanate from the steel itself out to the learning stations and out to Plants that are planted within the space itself.

  So it’s really, I think that’s one of the fascinating parts of it. It’s set up for discovery and for you to spend time there. And quite frankly, I think that the memorial itself, I might be a little biased because I was involved for such a long time, but it’s a beautiful space and it’s a space that I think is more beautiful than some of the major memorials throughout the country.

  Yeah. And it’s right here in Kewaskum. Yeah.

  [00:06:24] Fuzz Martin: It is a great centerpiece of our village. And it became so quickly. Um, it’s only, it’s only been up and open for, for three months at this point. Let’s talk about that steel. That was a relic, they call it, right? That came from the Port Authority in New York. On our website at wisconsin911memorial.

  com, if you go to the site, you can click through the education side of things and see there are actual photos of the beam still attached to the building. Talk about how it’s situated and how it’s incorporated into the memorial.

  [00:06:59] Dustin Melzark: The incorporation into the memorial is really meant that everything is centered around it and ripples from it, which is sort of going back to that idea of the circular memorial where everything is emanating from that center point.

  The way that David Iyer, the artist who came up with this concept, is that it’s actually positioned naturally if you were to take the center of gravity. And holding on a string, that’s the way the steel would, would rest. And then we positioned it so it was pointing towards New York. And then initially we worked with a structural engineer to make sure that we could actually get this piece of steel to stand upright.

  It’s a two ton piece of steel. And I mean, the foundation is pretty massive, below grade. But then we worked with carpenters to make sure it could be built because it’s, you know, taking a solid piece of steel for that base and welding it and making sure that it’s going to come together the way that I drew it in.

  SketchUp is, is a lot to ask. So initially we made a wood mock up and then that wood mock up was taken to The fabricator, and then the fabricator cut the pieces basically by tracing the plywood that was cut out and put together and then they took all that and fabricated it together and it’s, it’s actually pretty fascinating because I don’t know how many listeners have welded or put together some steel, but it’s a, it’s a work of art and it’s beautiful.

  [00:08:19] Fuzz Martin: It really is. And, again, if you go to the website, go to the Symbolism of the Memorial page, you can see photos of the base being installed and how deep that footing is, and then also getting that support structure put together and fabricated.

  [00:08:33] Dustin Melzark: Initially, we had talked about welding the steel to the new column.

  But the fabricators wanted to do a bolting pattern instead. And that’s kind of the thing that as a construction manager, you kind of let the project evolve, but ask questions along the way. So the volunteers and the skilled craftspeople that came together to help us put this together were an integral part of the success and the way it is presented today.

  I mean, we couldn’t have done it without them. And it wouldn’t be nearly as special without them. Everybody who stepped up to help.

  [00:09:06] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, and there are a ton of people that were involved in getting that to go, and it does, it is beautiful, and it is the centerpiece of the, of the entire memorial.

  [00:09:15] Dustin Melzark: I mean, I had a spot in my speech when I talked about that there were over, I think it was 1, 100 unique donors to the project, and that would even be bigger than that with all the in kind support that we received along the way.

  Yeah. Like I said, we couldn’t have done it without everybody’s help.

  [00:09:31] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, certainly. I do want to just take a sidestep and say, Jerry Gosa was a huge help and Barry Amell, of course, as well, and both have passed. Um, uh, Jerry was the one who came knocking on my door and asked

  [00:09:44] Dustin Melzark: Jerry came knocking on almost everybody’s door.

  [00:09:47] Fuzz Martin: Yes, I’m sure if you’re listening from Kewaskum or nearby even, Jerry’s knocked on your door. But he helped whip up a lot of the support and get people going.

  [00:09:55] Dustin Melzark: Well, you know what’s great about Jerry Gosa? When I initially started in this project, he had come off of another fundraising campaign for another local project.

  Mm hmm. And Jerry’s attitude was that if I’m not willing to do it, knock on doors, talk to people, spend the time, then I shouldn’t be involved in this. So, you know, taking his lead, I’m not one that’s really going to knock on doors, but, you know, I spent countless hours trying to make sure everything was going to come together, and took phone calls, and You wouldn’t even realize how many phone calls we had about the paint finish on that piece, you know, and that’s extended into other parts.

  But yeah, Jerry Gosa was a, was a fantastic leader and led by example, which was really great to see and humbling to watch someone like that just do whatever they could to get this done.

  [00:10:44] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, he had a passion for it and cared about it, and we all miss him, so thank you, Jerry. Let’s talk back to the, the steel.

  It’s on a foundation that’s shaped like a pentagon, which is a symbolism in itself, but there’s more to it than that.

  [00:10:58] Dustin Melzark: Well, it starts with the steel and that extends down to this pentagon shape. That pentagon, uh, Each point of the pentagon points to a different, uh, what we call learning stations throughout the memorial, because this is meant to be an educational center.

  And the first one points to the amphitheater and the teaching podium. And the next point is to the flight map. And then the next one goes to a sculpture titled Ascension. And then the next one points to a victim’s learning station, which is being developed as we speak, and it might actually be done, because I think you’re working on that.

  Yep, yep.

  [00:11:31] Fuzz Martin: It’s being printed as we’re talking, and should be installed hopefully by the time you’re listening, or at least hopefully by September 11th.

  [00:11:41] Dustin Melzark: And then the last one was the Twin Tower sculpture, which again has a lot of symbolism behind it.

  [00:11:47] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, those are trellises. Next year, I believe the Sweet Autumn Clematis will be growing on that, and that blooms in September, which is another piece of symbolism for all of us.

  Really awesome how that all comes together. Let’s talk about the teaching podium. When you look at it, there are these tridents that come up, and they’re pretty recognizable if you remember the imagery of September 11th.

  [00:12:07] Dustin Melzark: Yep, so the base of that, um, teaching podium is meant to remind visitors of the tridents that were the signature architectural element.

  of the Twin Towers, and we partnered with Mark Hargis of BMH Manufacturing. And he put countless hours in and coordinated everything and somehow fabricated those to look as beautiful as they did. I mean, I bet you he has hundreds of hours into those legs, but yeah, they’re beautiful and they have some ingrained symbolism to support this teaching podium, which is meant to allow educators to convey The meaning behind this memorial and not only what the different symbolism means, but what it meant on a larger scale.

  [00:12:49] Fuzz Martin: Also, we have photos of those being fabricated. If you’re into the construction side of this, if you go to the symbolism page on the website, you can see that as well. That auditorium has a big, Quote on it, which is really prominent as you look.

  [00:13:02] Dustin Melzark: Yeah, it’s no a day shall I erase you from the memory of time.

  It’s a prominently displayed on our memorial. It’s also prominently displayed in the New York memorial. So it’s a way to tie the two together and add a layer of. Detail and symbolism in the amphitheater itself.

  [00:13:17] Fuzz Martin: One big part of the memorial, a huge part of the memorial is the veterans area, which is a tribute to the army, Navy, coast guard, Marines, the air force, and dedicated to veterans from Washington County.

  If you. You may have remembered seeing the news stories from a couple years ago, the funds raised for that were from an organization called Forever Honoring Our Washington County Veterans, which was led by County Executive Josh Shulman and Justin Reichert, who is a U. S. Army vet. He enlisted, actually, the day after September 11th, and he’s a bronze medal recipient.

  Also married to Ashley Reichert, our county clerk, but they raised between Forever Honoring, our Washington County Vets, and Josh Schumann on his own, they raised a ton of money for our memorial and we appreciate their dedication to doing that and the Veterans area looks just gorgeous.

  [00:14:09] Dustin Melzark: And if you remember, that was actually one of the benefits of Moving locations, we had more room to do more and add this component, which was a really strong tie and something that Gordon had always wanted to do in some fashion, and it was also one of the first parts of the memorial that was completely finished, because it was kind of the cornerstone of the entire development, everything kind of evolved from that, but it really allowed us to accelerate our efforts in getting the memorial finished.

  [00:14:39] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, and there’s also a bench in there dedicated to a Medal of Honor recipient from the Korean War. His name is Einer Ingman, Jr. He was from Kewaskum. He spent some time in Kewaskum.

  [00:14:51] Dustin Melzark: Well, that and that bench had previously just been located down the street in front of another building in town. And Tom Fabbits actually brought up this idea of integrating this bench.

  So there were a lot of cool things that happened as a This concept evolved, and it kind of, it almost stitched Kewaskum to the memorial, because we were able to integrate this bench, and we were able to integrate this memorial for local veterans, not, not just locally, but nationally, and I think it’s a, it’s a really wonderful thing that happened.

  [00:15:22] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, I agree. And the tie in to the military from, September 11th is a big factor as well. So it really all comes together in a beautiful fashion. I really recommend you go out there and spend some time there if you have not been there yet, or if you’ve only driven past and haven’t had time to actually soak it in.

  A few other pieces to the memorial. We do have the survivor tree. Tell us what that is.

  [00:15:47] Dustin Melzark: The Survivor Tree was the only tree in the World Trade Center Plaza that survived the attacks. Clones of the Survivor Tree were made and are actually present in this memorial, and it was a gift from the 9 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City.

  We had them tagged out there, we actually removed those, but we’re making signs to indicate which ones they are so visitors can recognize them, but yeah, there’s a, there’s a strong tie between the two. That actual tree in our memorial and the memorial in New York City and the day of the attack. There’s

  [00:16:19] Fuzz Martin: a story on the 9 11 memorial website about The Survivor Tree, and you can read that whole story on how that came to be, and if you just search for the Survivor Tree, that’ll come up.

  Um, another tree in the memorial is the Swamp White Oak, and you think it’s an oak tree that’s in the middle of a field, but tell us about that.

  [00:16:38] Dustin Melzark: That oak tree in the middle of the field was planted exactly 754 inches from the memorial center, which is how many miles exists between New York City and Kewaskum.

  And that swamp oak is reminiscent of the Oak Alley on the 9 11 Memorial Plaza in New York. So again, we have another tie back to New York. And these trees were chosen because they’re native to all three areas attacked on 9 11. So that ties together New York City, Arlington, Virginia. in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

  And it’s also a symbol of strength, morale, resistance, and knowledge. So again, there’s a really deep meaning as to why that particular tree was chosen, and why it’s in the middle of a field, exactly. 754 inches from the center, which You know, we haven’t surveyed it, but that was the intent.

  [00:17:27] Fuzz Martin: Back to the way the steel’s pointed, so I didn’t know that, and I also didn’t realize that the steel, New York isn’t due east of us, it’s a little bit southeast of us, and you, growing up, you just think it’s east, and then when you see it, it’s like, oh, that’s actually.

  So

  [00:17:44] Dustin Melzark: I actually looked on a, on a map, because I was one of the ones that had to figure out where that was, to try to figure out where, uh. And New York is, and then to trace that back locally and then back to the site, you really had to make sure that you weren’t going to mess that up. Sure. Right. But yeah, that was, that’s the intent is that it points back to New York.

  And people have thought that it stands for other things, but really it’s just resting on its neutral axis position towards New York. And it’s meant to look dynamic. You know, there were other concepts thrown around, like just having it flat, but it’s In my opinion, just the way it’s resting on the site.

  It’s, it’s really, it’s a focal point and that’s the point is that everything emanates from the steel.

  [00:18:27] Fuzz Martin: Yeah. And it’s pointing up toward the sky. I think there’s a lot of different pieces that, and you can even draw your own symbolism out of it. I think one of the great things with the memorial is you can go there and just feel all of these different pieces and what they mean to you and what they meant to you on the day.

  That 9 11 happened in the days following and I’m glad to be a part of it. I’m glad you were a part of this. I’m looking forward to the future of the memorial itself. We have an event coming up on Saturday, September 11th. It’s at 10 a. m. It’ll be honoring fire, police, and first responders for the 20th anniversary of the attacks on September 11th.

  It will be Hosted by Kewaskum Police Chief Tom Bishop and Greenfield Fire Chief John Cohn, uh, they’ll be our speakers. And we’ll also have the Kewaskum High School Band there, as well as some other great things going on with the American Legion and others. So, join us for that, September 11th at 10am.

  Also, we just launched educational resources. We have age appropriate lesson plan ideas for 3rd through 5th graders, 6th through 8th, and 9th through 12th grades that teachers can use in, in their classrooms, or they can modify them. They all adhere to state standards. Again, they’re age appropriate, and they’re focused on Wisconsin, too, so how September 11th ties into Wisconsin.

  There’s also an activity guide for field trips, other educational resources. And if you want to help, we still have bricks available, right?

  [00:19:48] Dustin Melzark: Yeah, we do. And we have a system in place to, to pull the blank ones and put in the, the new ones that we are able to sell. So I would encourage everyone to go to the website, buy a brick.

  You know, at this point, we’re really focused on maintaining the memorial into the future perpetually. And we still need a lot of help with that. So any help we can get is greatly appreciated. Yeah. We’re going to,

  [00:20:09] Fuzz Martin: we’re still raising funds for the memorial. maintenance for educational seminars for promoting education and making sure that future generations never forget.

  And that’s why we’re here and we’re doing this. And Dustin, I appreciate you coming on the show. Thank you very much. And this, again, this is a big feat. It took a lot of hard work by a lot of people and you were, and still are, very involved and we appreciate your support. Yeah. Thank you, Fuzz.

  Thank you so much for listening to Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz. Again, if you’re listening to this right now and September 11th is coming up, be sure to join us at the Wisconsin 9 11 Memorial on Saturday, September 11th at 10 a. m. If you’re listening after that, uh, we had a great event. I’m guessing, because we put a lot of work into it.

  If you like this show, Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. Connect with the show on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, at FifteenWithFuzz, or visit FifteenWithFuzz. com. Again, thanks so much for listening, and we will talk to you again. Next Monday, as we explore some of the great things going on in West Bend with Jay Shambo, the City Administrator.

  That’s on the next episode of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.