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The Fallbrook Village News | www.VillageNews.com
February 8, 2018
Area artist uses sculpture skills to honor fallen heroes Alex Groves agroves@reedermedia.com
The Temecula Duck Pond, known for having a wide variety of sculptures and artworks, will soon be welcoming another installation later this year: A memorial for Temecula residents who were killed while serving their country. The Temecula Heroes Memorial, designed by La Cresta-based artist Austin Casson, will include a 17-foot-tall steel tower, life-size bald eagle forged in steel and a battlefield cross. On the ground in front of the tower will be five 12-inch bronze seals honoring each of the individual branches of the military. “I was approached by the city and I was interested in it as soon as they told me what they had in mind,” Casson said outside of his La Cresta home last week. “It’s a wonderful project and I’m very proud to be involved. I’m proud to have them ask me.” Erica Russo, a senior management analyst for the city, wrote in an email that the project was initiated following the death of 27-year-old Temecula resident and Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin, who was killed in action while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S. military’s campaign against ISIS. Following the incident, Russo wrote, the Military Ad Hoc Subcommittee consisting of councilman Jeff Comerchero and then councilman Michael McCracken asked city staff to coordinate an effort with community partners to discuss creating a memorial to honor Cardin. Those community partners included Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4089, The Temecula Valley Woman’s Club, Commissioner Bob Hagel and Riverside County Supervisor Chuck Washington. The group decided on the Duck Pond to complement the existing
Letters Home Memorial, and Casson was invited to submit a concept for the memorial’s design. Casson has been an artist for nearly three decades and began his career making small-scale replicas of world-famous golf holes that could be used as bookends and desk decorations. Those items sold in roughly 3,000 gift shops around the world. “I tried to find someone to make them and I couldn’t find anybody to make them, so I started doing it myself and I found out that I was a sculptor,” Casson said. “It’s just that simple.” From the miniature golf holes, Casson moved into making large scale stone and bronze sculptures and those are the mediums he still works in today. At his home in the hills near Murrieta Friday, Casson was working on a metal sculpture of a winged lady. He particularly enjoys sculpting birds, not unlike the life-size one that will top the memorial. That bird is currently sitting at city hall as the other pieces of the memorial are finished in studios in Temecula and Fallbrook that are helping Casson. Te m e c u l a ’s F a b w e s t Manufacturing, which does metal fabrication projects, is in the process of constructing the 17-foot tower on which the eagle will rest. The battlefield cross is being finished up by Brandon Roy of the California Sculpture Academy in Fallbrook. Casson described Roy as a “world class sculptor.” Casson said that members of the California Sculpture Academy, some of whom are themselves veterans, helped in the creation of the very detailed cross The boots located beneath the rifle are the same kind of boots that Cardin wore and a cast replica of Cardin’s dog tags will also be visible on the cross, Casson said. Cardin, a 2006 graduate of Chaparral High School, joined the
Austin Casson works on pieces at his home studio. Casson was invited to submit a concept Meghan Taylor photo design for the new memorial honoring veterans at the city of Temecula’s Duck Pond. His design was selected for the memorial. Marines in June 2006. He is not the only Temecula resident to have died while serving in the military. Marine Corporal Christopher G. Singer, 23, another Chaparral High grad and a member of the 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force died in Afghanistan in 2012. Casson said he hopes people stop and take in the memorial as they pass by it at the pond. “It’s a piece that I hope the design will make people think,” he said. “That’s all we can do.” The city is moving forward on the project and is currently preparing to go out for bid on the site work, but Russo said an exact date for when it will be completed has not yet been decided.
A small scale replica shows what a memorial honoring veterans Courtesy Photo will look like when it’s placed at the Temecula Duck Pond later this year..
Rotarians serve at food pantry
Dale Mitchell photo Rotary Club of Fallbrook members spend the morning serving the community at the Fallbrook Food Pantry Jan. 27. Approximately 2,000 pounds of donated food items were sorted, boxed, and prepared for distribution to those with hunger needs. Community service is a priority for the Rotary Club of Fallbrook and is part of Rotary International’s motto of “Service Above Self”. For more information, see www.fallbrookrotary.org.
Railroad Heritage Park seeks donations
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The caboose will be coming to Fallbrook once funding is available. FALLBROOK – The much anticipated Fallbrook Railroad Heritage Park project is on schedule. The new historical centerpiece for the downtown area will be a major icon in Fallbrook and will occupy the northwest corner of Main and Elder streets. It will take $16,000 to finish
Phase I, which will allow for grading, laying foundation tracks and transporting the Santa Fe caboose to downtown. The caboose currently is situated in Barstow waiting to be moved to the Fallbrook community. Donations are being accepted to help bring back to Fallbrook
Courtesy photo this part of the city’s rich railroad history. The community can send donations to the Fallbrook Village Association, P.O. Box 2438, Fallbrook, CA 92088. Donations of $500 or more will receive a recognition plaque at the site location.