Wings of Peace sculpture again watches over Penn Township
PENN TWP — The Wings of Peace memorial and eagle sculpture has been at the intersection of Airport and Three Degree roads since 1986. After some rehabilitation, it once again took flight Friday, May 10.
The Penn Township Veterans Association raised the eagle sculpture back onto the Wings of Peace monument Friday morning — a moment which was met with cheers from the many veterans and their families in attendance.
Veterans at their February meeting mentioned the eagle was beginning to fall. At the meeting was Shawnee Young, director of the county Veterans Affairs Department. On March 13, association members met at the monument to discuss what to do and were shocked to see the frail condition of the eagle as it rested in a flatbed trailer attached to Joel Hilliard’s pickup truck.
The group recruited Bill Secunda, an artist who works mainly with metals and steel, to refurbish the eagle, which was originally built by late association member Steve Zavacky with cast aluminum rods. The statue’s base is made of stone from Penn Township.
The association led a fundraising effort to pay Secunda for the sculpture’s refurbishment. Young said as of Friday the group had raised $8,065 for the effort. She said the organization hasn’t negotiated payment to Secunda yet, but money leftover from paying for the statue may be used by the association for upkeep of the memorial.
As a crane lifted the eagle onto the monument Friday, Chuck Kaczmarek, president of the Penn Township Veterans Association, said it was only possible thanks to community support for the organization and the project.
“It means a lot to us,” Kaczmarek said. “It touched the community’s lives and all the people ... just a lot of people that this means a lot to.”
The sculpture has a 13-foot wingspan, and Kaczmarek said he didn’t even have a guess as to how much it weighs, especially after Secunda’s repair.
As the statue touched the stone base of the monument, applause erupted, and someone shouted, “The eagle has landed!”
Glen Greenawalt, 93, one of three surviving charter members of the Penn Township Veterans Association, named the entire structure the Wings of Peace monument. He said Friday he was happy to see it remain in place.
Ed Hughes, vice president of the veterans association, helped hook the sculpture to the crane that hoisted it up to its old perch.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Hughes said. “There’s just a lot of pride that it’s back up there.”
