Some projects mean more than the work that goes into making them.
I created this memorial piece in honor of Sgt. Gregory A. Belanger, a Frontier Regional School graduate who was killed in Iraq on August 27, 2003, at just 24 years old.
As a veteran and a member of our local VFW, this project was deeply personal to me. Greg was part of our community, and I wanted to create something that honored his service and sacrifice while keeping the focus on the person behind the uniform.
I presented the finished piece to Greg's mother on August 27, the anniversary of his death. That made this far more than another engraving project. It was an opportunity to use something I make with my own hands to help preserve the memory of a young man from our community who never came home.
Of everything I've made, this is one where the meaning of the finished piece will always matter far more to me than the work that went into making it.