The ambitious project, named the El Faro Salute, is now in its fifth year of composition, only a few days shy of the fifth anniversary of the cargo embark ’ second sinking, October 1, 2015, leaving 33 crew members, including two Rockland residents and two other Maine residents, lost at sea .
As fund-raise grows for the $ 135,000 project, so excessively does the trust and respect towards the sculptor and his proposed memorial by the departeds ’ families, vitamin a well as the remedy gratification gained by those families, the sculptor, and the community .
Sawyer ’ s project is on track, albeit measuredly behind and steady. He first spent several years in Phase I, restfully and indirectly reaching out and wading into the sensible waters of the families ’ grief.
His diligence in contacting third base parties, gaining the confidence and proving his authenticity to the third parties, and through those parties sending letters of introduction to the families, has culminated with the irregular set of the memorial ’ sulfur future Rockland home between the Crescent Street walking path at Sandy Beach Park and the entrance to Dragon Products ’ marine end .
In a class or more, if the final two-thirds of the fund-raise goal are met, two metal uniform jackets and two hats, representing a male and a female, will tower up in permanent toast, while a plaque below gives credenza to the names of all 33 lost souls .
According to Sawyer, placing the uniforms above eye level forces the observers to tilt their chins and gaze heavenward. In the background, the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse waxes symbolic to the area ’ s nautical history a well as the fact that El Faro is spanish for “ the beacon. ”
Supported by his first choices – Penobscot Bay Marine Museum, Rockland, and the region ’ s overplus of Maine Maritime Academy graduates, including at least one who works for place owner Dragon Products, Sawyer is on his way to bringing home a “ much needed ” memorial .
“ It ’ s going to be very rewarding. I know it already is, ” said Sawyer .
Sawyer said the project goes well beyond merely memorializing. A boastfully part is to help the families heal .
“ Just having an taste for the grief that these people are experiencing, the shock of this, and realizing that it never should have happened, ” he said. “ And to merely let them know that in this maritime community there ’ mho compassion for them. It ’ s already working in that respect. I know it ’ randomness working. I ’ ve spoken with families, and they tell me this. They tell me repeatedly. even families that don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate live in Maine, it ’ s a aid to them, besides. They are truly honor to think that their loved ones are being memorialized. ”
A place for ME
In the storehouse areas of four Maine homes, the artifacts of El Faro shipmates rest in preservation. Each keepsake is a separate, private honorarium to each person. In those homes, those names remain personalize, separated from the out Maine community and their non-biological MMA and Merchant Marine families .
El Faro crewmembers who hailed from Maine
Capt. Michael Davidson, 53, Windham, ME, Class of 1988
Danielle Randolph, 34, Rockland, ME, Class of 2005
Michael Holland, Wilton, ME, Class of 2012
Dylan Meklin, 23, Rockland, ME, Class of 2015
“ I think people look to memorials as a recognition of what has been lost, ” said Karen Smith, executive director, Penobscot Marine Museum .
“ The memorials help people know that their loved ones have not been forgotten and that families are not alone in their grieve. ”
From the greater position, one might ask : if loved ones have day by day reminders of their departed, why do they travel to see their go ’ randomness name on small plaques in populace places ?
Three ambitious El Faro memorials already exist, including a boastfully one in Jacksonville, Florida, and one in Puerto Rico. Most, if not all of the families have traveled to Jacksonville, according to Sawyer. The trip has helped with some of the grief, however, the majority of the crew were from Florida. The five departed in the northern region were not vitamin a ingrained in that southern community .
generally, cemeteries and gravestones mark a deviate ’ s final perch plaza. The bodies of the El Faro crew were never recovered. These memorials are their gravestones .
“ sadly, it ’ s merely the closest you can come, ” said Sawyer. “ [ Jacksonville ’ south memorial is ] limited and it surely helped to grieve, ” he said. “ But, it ’ randomness 15 hundred miles away. ”
Why not Castine, home of Maine Maritime Academy?
many people have ask Sawyer why he chose Rockland and no other. The answer has many pieces .
A moment with Penobscot Marine Museum
What does it mean to be a fiscal sponsor ?
As a 501 ( speed of light ) 3 nonprofit, Penobscot Marine Museum can help support projects outside of our organization that foster our mission. We serve an administrative function for the El Faro Salute ! project and make it potential for contributors to make tax deductible donations .
Is PMM a fiscal presenter for early memorials ?
PMM is not a fiscal patronize for other memorials, but we have served as a fiscal patronize for other projects that relate to the maritime history and culture of the Penobscot Bay region — such as a film about the history of the collect fishery and a collaborative podcast sharing coastal Maine stories .
Why did PMM agree to support this undertaking ?
PMM is dedicated to preserving and sharing our region ‘s nautical history and culture, and sadly, tragedies like the sink of the EL FARO are a part of that. When Jay approached us about serving as a fiscal sponsor for this project, it seemed like a natural paroxysm. This sculpt will serve as a persistent memorial to those lost in the tragedy and a tribute to our maritime community .
On the philosophic side, why do you think people go out of their way to see their deceased loved ones ‘ names in public spaces, regardless of all of the memorabilia they have at home ?
I think people look to memorials as a recognition of what has been lost. They help people know that their loved ones have not been forgotten and that they are not alone in their grieve.
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Why do we need such memorials ?
Memorials like this avail carry on the stories of a community and provide a public space for healing and promise .
Sawyer said he believed that this memorial would turn into something bigger, and consequently needed a more accessible localization .
“ I never had a plan B, ” he said. “ I just tried to work hard enough that there was not a need for Plan B .
The proposed placement has the city and cultural aspects of Rockland one one english and the farinaceous industrial air of Dragon Cement and Rockland Marine on the early .
“ It literally is the intersection of culture and diligence, which is pretty clean in that Rockland was an industrial town, a working community turned cultural, ” he said .
After finishing his time as a merchant marine and welder, Sawyer took the iron and steel he was manipulating to stand sturdy, and began working with them for peace and art. As Rockland became a Main Street Community, Sawyer presented his first artwork appearance .
“ It is a parallel path for both of us, ” he said. “ For me and the City of Rockland. To go from this blue collar kind of mentality, if you will, to cultural. And then to have this web site be right smack in the in-between of that. ”
The memorial will besides play a separate minor role in recognizing an industry .
“ It ’ s kind of fishy, ” he said. “ You tell person you ’ re in the Merchant Marines, and they think you ’ re in the Armed Forces. so, it might go in that commission where it [ the memorial ] gives people a little piece of pastime, bringing to light what these people do, and the character they play for people around and all. ”
The function of El Faro was to help maintain a line of life to Puerto Rico. The cargo ship was one of two that ran routinely from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico and then back. While one was heading down, the early was going up .
It was a critical function, according to Sawyer .
A former MMA grad and merchant marine with no previous experience at sea/a current sculptor with no experience with public memorials
news of the El Faro ’ s sinking “ hit me like a punch in the catgut, ” said Sawyer .
That gut reaction continued in the days to follow as details emerged about the cargo embark ’ s final examination days .
Sawyer didn ’ t have the nautical background of lobstering or deep-sea travel that many other cadets had upon entering the Academy. evening growing up in Maine revealed alone the rare report of sea-related tragedy, normally from literature. His marine experience came after he started shipping. That gut spirit after the El Faro sinking that manifested into a proposed memorial came from the same area of the gut that learned first gear hand the risks of sea life .
As a new mariner, “ you ’ vitamin d experience some storms and if that was the first time you ’ five hundred been on a ship that size, when she rolls over, and hangs there for a bit, you in truth wonder if she ’ s coming back up, ” he said. “ I ’ ve heard it referred to before a high risk/high wages. ”
Though the tragedies are rare, the stakes are high, and the vulnerability winds its way in .
“ As a young person, you ’ ra trust on those above you, and they have the experience, ” he said. “ For myself, I was trained as an engineer. then, I didn ’ metric ton know much about boat handling of anything like that. ”
now, as an artist, Sawyer is inching his way into memorials and grief from an unconditional point of view. normally, person with money for a memorial then commissions an artist to do the oeuvre. With urging from the community, Sawyer – the artist – is using his own center – his own punch in the catgut – to manifest an idea into a world. His secret weapon is his connections to the Academy and to the Merchant Marines .
“ It ’ s kind of fishy, ” he said. “ You tell person you ’ re in the Merchant Marines, and they think you ’ re in the Armed Forces. so, it might go in that management where it gives people a short bit of concern, possibly, but at least it barely brings to light about what these people do, and the character they play for people around and all .
Making connections
Sawyer works much with establish objects and industrial salvage .
“ You ’ re saluting the life of that fabric, ” he said .
Though this is Sawyer ’ s first base public memorial, he ’ second created several small pieces honoring his own friends and family members. About three years ago, he spent a winter creating a sculpt for his father-in-law, who ’ d recently passed. Sawyer ’ s purpose was to make an object. He had not theme of how much the procedure would affect him .
“ When I got that done, I was merely shocked at how good I felt, ” he said. “ And how curative that was. It truly did blow me away. It wasn ’ t something I precisely read. ”
Having experienced the unintended therapy of his affair in that personal objet d’art, Sawyer is open to involvement of others in the El Faro Salute. A male uniform is on lend from a MMA alumn to act as a model. People have modeled for him in those uniforms, MMA alum Mark Curtis, of Dragon Products helped with the photograph op to drive down a localization stake. Grieving families are excited to assist with future weld and initiation .
“ I had experienced it, ” he said. “ And that ’ s why I wanted to let others experience, excessively. ”
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For more information, visit Jay Sawyer ’ s web site for this project : El Faro Salute, www.elfarosalute.com/
Reach Sarah Thompson at news @ penbaypilot.com