Our business is creating memorials for families and communities, and we’re proud to have helped build some of our nation’s greatest granite monuments. But it’s the people who create those monuments, without a lot of fanfare, that we want to highlight today: The people of Rock of Ages who served our country in the military.
Last year Polycor, our parent company, partnered with renowned Air Force photographer Stacey Pearsall who travels the country photographing veterans for The Veterans Portrait Project. For this project, which became her life mission after she became injured in combat, Pearsall has endeavored to capture veterans portraits in every state from which the Department of Defense recruits.
When she made her stop at our quarry and workshop in Barre, VT we did what we do best, we created a granite memorial to honor our staff members who served. Pearsall used it as a fitting podium for her subjects.
The Living Monuments is made from BLUE GRAY® granite quarried here in Barre, Vermont.
In coordination with Pearsall’s work we created a video that highlights veterans from across the Polycor brands who work throughout the US. In the mix you can see some of our Rock of Ages veteran team members.
"Polycor employs almost 60 veterans in the US. When we saw Stacy's work, we wanted to do something to thank them for their service and so, quite naturally, we thought of a stone monument,” said Polycor President Patrick Perus. "We often commemorate the veterans who have lost their lives at war, but those who have fought for this beautiful country and survived are often forgotten.”
If you come to see us, we invite you to step inside our visitor center to see more portraits from the project by Pearsall that captures with poignancy the veterans’ humility, dignity and integrity.
Families and school children often pose with the podium on their visits to the quarry.
The Living Monuments pedestal now rests outside our visitor center welcoming all those who come to see us. It’s a humble memorial, and one where kids can climb and families can pose for photos. It didn’t seem right to keep it behind a velvet rope. Not when the people who built it, whom it honors, are the kind of people who never hesitate to push up their sleeves and get to work, no matter how hard the job, or how great the cost.
Devotion, generosity, commitment, they’re values every employer wants in their team members. And when you hire military veterans those qualities are a part of their hard won character.
Today we thank our Rock of Ages veterans for their service. And if you served, please tell us in the comments. We’d like to thank you too.
We invite you to come and experience The Living Monuments exhibit, a tribute to heritage and craftsmanship, and take a guided tour of the quarry, where the echoes of generations past still resonate.