Memorial Clock Tower the Newest Addition to Downtown Frankfort

Photo: On December 5, 2015, the Frankfort Preservation Foundation board gathered with Mayor Holland to present the memorial clock tower as a gift to the Village of Frankfort. Pictured: (Back row L to R) Ralph Eisenbrandt, Tanya Benton, Harry D’Ercole, Judy Herder, Chip Krusemark. (Front row L to R) Marcia Steward, Bill Hoffmeister, Mayor Jim Holland, Cheryl Howard. Not pictured: board members Rachel Gilmore, John Herder and Dean Vaundry.

—Submitted by the Frankfort Preservation Foundation

On Saturday, December 5, 2015, the Frankfort Preservation Foundation’s newest project, a beautiful clock tower with memorial plaque base, was dedicated and gifted to the Village of Frankfort by the Foundation. The clock was installed in late November 2015 just south of Old Plank Trail at White Street in downtown Frankfort. Its first honorees are Paul and Vicki Lambrecht, who were both instrumental in strengthening, promoting and preserving the Frankfort community for decades while residents here. The Lambrechts were also key members of the grass roots effort to preserve the Frankfort Water Tower, which led to the creation of the Frankfort Preservation Foundation (FPF) in 1993.

Further, the Preservation Foundation would like to thank the following individuals who assisted in the installation of the clock:·

• Village of Frankfort Staff: Cesar Mireleso Lupe Ortiso Terry Kestel
• Electrical Services Donated by Excel Electrico: David Easter and John Benton
• Chuck JaBaay of JaBaay’s Outdoor Creations and CD&ME, who helped with plaque installation

The Frankfort Preservation Foundation is dedicated to preserving Frankfort’s past for its future and is an all-volunteer organization. The group has sponsored a number of memorials around town that honor key people or places in Frankfort, as well as hosted events which promote and strengthen the Frankfort community.

Such projects include:

• Hosting of the annual Ice Cream Social and PieLympics on the Sunday before Frankfort Fall Festival, a free event for Frankfort residents (co-sponsored by the Frankfort Area Historical Society)

• Creation of a formalized process to recognize residents involved in the preservation of historic homes and buildings, as well as honor individuals committed to the organization’s mission of preserving Frankfort’s past for its future

• Dedication of the bust of former mayor Glenn Warning at 123 Kansas Street (Chamber of Commerce building)

• Creation of the Founders Center Sculpture Garden at 140 Oak Street in downtown Frankfort. The garden features:
  
  • Maggi Lindee’s Garden Gate
  • the statue of General Sherman and his horse Sam (Sam retired to a farm in Frankfort)
  • the busts of former mayor George C. Sangmeister and his son, Retired Congressman George E. Sangmeister
  • the pergola in honor of founder and past president Daniel P. Hattan (2007)

• Partnering with the Frankfort Park District and Frankfort Area Historical Society to establish the Native American Medicine Wheel garden on the west side of the Founders Center

• Planting a grove of trees at Commissioners Park on 80th Avenue

For more information on how to get involved with the Frankfort Preservation Foundation or support its preservation efforts, please call 815-469-6541.