MVVM Fundraising

MVVM Parade

Minnesota State Representative Doug Carlson from Sandstone invited us to participate in the Pine County Parade in Pine City in July 1991. In August, MVVM marched in the Woodbury parade. 

The Minneapolis Aquatennial Torchlight Parade included two Gold Star Mothers—Muriel Pederson and Fran Larson. They rode in a shiny red convertible loaned to MVVM by Valley Olds Pontiac.

MVVM BOOTHS

Most of MVVM’s donations came from small contributions made by the people of Minnesota. Larger corporations were unwilling to become involved in the controversy of the Vietnam War. Many MVVM booths helped get the word out, shared casualty information, took donations, and sold items like t-shirts, hats, bandanas, mugs, pins, etc.  

Across the state, many welcomed MVVM booths: Taste of Minnesota in St. Paul; WE Fest in Detroit Lakes; Clarissa Summer Festival, Glencoe area raised over $2,800 with numerous events and donations to honor the five hometown boys, Quarry Days in Sandstone; Club Soda Night Club in Bloomington; Detroit Lakes Jaycees Second Chance Reunion; VFWs; American Legions; Jaycee dances and jams; Anoka, Isanti, Ramsey, Washington, and Carver country fairs, Hennepin County Government Center, Apache Plaza, and many more. One of our most successful recurring booths was at the Minnesota State Fair, with volunteers raising over $11,000 in 1989 alone. An elementary and a high school collected pennies for a donation of over $500.

Other events included a Chili Bowl II Cook-Off at Rainbow Foods in Eagan sponsored by K102 radio, which raised $245. WDGY sponsored a Northtown Mall fundraising event with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Minnesota State Band raised money during a special tribute concert to veterans at the Landmark Center. Anoka VVA Chapter #470 walked seven miles from the Federal Building in Minneapolis to the memorial site to create awareness. Rick Esmond, a Vietnam Veteran, ran the Twin Cities Marathon, raising $500 for MVVM. Southtown Theatre handed out hundreds of brochures to people attending “In Country.” Portions of the proceeds from the Minnesota Zoo Holiday in Lights were donated to MVVM.  

K102 radio station became an MVVM sponsor in early 1989, airing biographies of several men whose names would appear on the memorial. Additionally, they sponsored booths at WE Fest, Listeners Appreciation Day at Aamodt’s Apple Farm in Stillwater, The Winterific Ice Fishing Contest on Normandale Lake in Bloomington, and several more. This list is only a sample of contributions to the memorial.

Naegele Outdoor Advertising donated five billboards to help promote the memorial. Designed by Concept Group, the billboard captions read, “They went to the wall for you. Now help build one for them.” Skoglund Communications provided ten out-of-state billboard locations supporting MVVM. They read, “The 60s–for them there will never be another decade like it.”  

Canterbury Downs Horse Racing

The “Downs” Run for Funds at Canterbury Downs racing in August of 1991, was focused on raising funds to build MVVM. Proceeds from advance ticket sales and sponsored races assisted MVVM in keeping on schedule. We also were supported at an All-Star Wrestling Tournament in St. Paul in September of 1990. 

MVVM Motorcycle Rally

Minnesota Motorcycle Riders Association (MMRA) organized a Veterans Ride in 1990. Bikers met in Rogers, MN and headed west to the VA Medical Center in St. Cloud. Participation stretched seven miles with the assistance of MN DOT, the Minnesota highway patrol, and local police. People cheered them on from every overpass on the route. They raised almost $7,000.

Special Guest Fundraising Dinner

Governor Arne Carlson and the MVVM Board of Directors held a fundraising dinner at the Thunderbird Hotel in Bloomington in June of 1991. It honored distinguished guests General William C. Westmoreland, General John Vessey, Senator Paul Wellstone, and Mr. Phan Van Yen (President, Fellowship of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces). Over 325 people attended, raising over $7,000. Westmoreland indicated that the fundraising dinner was the sincerest of similar events he had ever attended, and he’d been to hundreds. 

  

Jan Scruggs and Teresa Vetter each initiated and produced a lasting monument to our veterans.

 

Another MVVM fundraising dinner in September of 1991, hosted and honored Vietnam Veteran Jan Scruggs. He founded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and was the driving force behind creating the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Scruggs hoped the memorial would honor all who served and “begin the healing process and forever stand as a symbol of our national unity.” He also focused on the physical and psychological trauma faced by U.S. veterans after the war. 

Sponsor a Name

…It is important that this memorial be built so that the young will learn — and we won’t forget. Of the 1,073 names, 732 sponsors, 574 have no sponsors, if the names with no sponsors could be sponsored, we would then have enough money to build the memorial. We are so close to starting, but we need your help in getting the remaining monies to start building. Excerpt from Richard Bergling from the fundraising dinner with General Westmoreland.

Richard Bergling — Fundraising Dinner Speech
sponsor-a-name-_-herman-rubin

Billboard Sally

On Friday, August 30, 1991, at 2 pm, 57-year-old Sally Adams of Delano, MN, a mother of a Vietnam veteran, climbed a 25-foot ladder onto a billboard near Forest Lake. Her home consisted of a lime green tent, a heater, and sleeping bags. Adams, a mother of three and grandmother of twelve, was determined to live on the billboard until raising the $73,000 needed to start the memorial’s construction process. 

“My son went to Vietnam, and while I was fortunate that he came back, the person who returned was not the same one who left a year earlier. Vietnam took his spirit and his heart,” said Adams. “Minnesota needs this memorial that is long overdue. We buried our dead but never said thank you. Now it’s time!” 

Sally dealt with cold, high winds, and rain. Then on September 19, with a Minnesota freeze warning issued, a pledge was called in by a Golden Valley businessman Bill Popp, President, and owner of LDB International Corporation. He arrived with a check for $50,000. Now, after 21 days, Sally could come down from the billboard. A celebration commenced. We could now move forward with construction. In addition, Adams’ stay on the billboard raised $14,000 in cash and $10,000 in pledges.

A huge crane held a large U.S. Flag that drew attention to the billboard where Billboard Sally lived for 21 days. It was located alongside the 35W interstate near Forest Lake. One Saturday, an attempt was made to raise a MIA/POW balloon to draw attention to Sally and the memorial. It was too windy for a safe launch.

Richard Bergling
Chapter President, Vietnam Veterans of America

A year ago, ground was broken for the Minnesota Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Capital mall in St. Paul. A year from now that memorial will be dedicated. It will be a time to honor and to remember our fallen brothers and sisters and the ones that are not home yet.

It will also be a time to remember and honor individuals that have made this memorial possible. Many long hours, days, nights, weeks, months, and years have been put into what will be a reality a year from now. These people have come from different backgrounds but have found common ground with this project. Some, of course, because they have loved ones that were in Vietnam, others, because they care. We need to remember and never forgot these people for their sacrifices. They have cried with us and laughed with us. They have been there for us and we for them. We have become one because there has been a void in their lives and in ours.

Have them stand!!! Thank you!!!

When you are wounded, be it physically or mentally, the first thing that needs to be done is to clean the wound so that you know the extent of the damage. In some instances, a physical wound is better because there is a process that will heat it. A mental wound, however, is a lot more of a problem to diagnose and treat. For twenty or more years, Vietnam veterans have carried or tried to bury their wounds from that war. When the Wall in Washington D.C. was built, the nation and veterans began the process of opening and cleaning their wounds. The Minnesota Vietnam Veterans Memorial will do what the Wall in Washington D.C. does. That doesn’t mean that Vietnam will ever be forgotten, it won’t. But by erecting this memorial we will begin to put it in perspective in our lives and hopefully deal with the wounds that have been with us so long and are heavy to carry. What of our families? How do they feel? After all, our parents sat silently by as we went to Vietnam. What of grief pain? I remember my mother cried when I said I was going back for a second tour.

I really didn’t think about what my parents went through and how they dealt with that feeling of watching me go again. Sally Adams (Billboard Sally) went through what my parents and hundreds of thousands of others went through, waiting and hoping that their sons and daughters would return safe and sound. We did not return the same and that was hard on the people that we came home to. But Sally and our parents never stopped loving us and never stopped being there for us. Thank you Sally for all that you have done and continue to do. You represent the love and devotion that all of our parents have. God bless you!!!

To the city of Forest Lake, thank you for letting us be here to raise funds for the memorial. Most of Minnesota’s Vietnam Veterans came from small communities like Forest Lake so it is only proper that we are here. You know of the pain of war because Forest Lake gave up two sons to Vietnam.

It is only after the wound is healed can one learn from the experience. The Minnesota Vietnam Veterans Memorial will heal and we will learn from it because not to do so will make us repeat it.

Thank you!!!

100% secure your website.
Powered by