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CANFIELD -- The Mahoning Veterans Memorial Cabin on the Canfield Fairgrounds will see a lot of activity in the coming weeks. MVM staff and officers will be joined by community members who want to see veterans honored during the fair.
One new look will be a metal roof. The old slate roof is showing its age, and the cabin needs a new roof.
"We believe the metal roof is more feasible," said Mahoning Veterans Memorial President Fred Schrock. "We are saving the old slate to be sold to artists and help raise funds for MVM."
The MVM Cabin is 225 years old. It was moved to the fairgrounds from Fairfield School Road in Columbiana after Elmer Riehl donated it on Nov. 10, 1992, to coincide with Veterans Day. The Canfield Fair Board granted the land known as Buckeye Grove, to the south of the Western Reserve Village, to place the cabin.
With the new cabin, the Mahoning Veterans Memorial Foundation was established to ensure its continued maintenance and upkeep.
Schrock continues that mission and on Friday, he spent most of the morning and afternoon there to clean up after a flood. He had gone to open the cabin for the roofers when he heard water running. He discovered a waterline had broken and was flooding the basement, which is a crawl space for the cabin.
"I was able to get the water turned off, and the repairs will be made once the basement is pumped out," Schrock said.
The water was allowed to flow to the cabin's gardens, which will be getting a lot of attention in coming weeks. Schrock said Ron Weaver from J&R Landscaping is donating all the mulch and a crew from Huntington Bank will be weeding and placing it.
He said Huntington Bank has a community service committee that selects a project in the area to do as a team.
"We get between 15-20 volunteers from the bank who help us with our gardens," he said. "Some have been doing it for years."
The gardens will be complete and ready to go two weeks before the start of this year's fair.
One sign already placed in one garden is the "Price of Freedom" sign, which lists the American lives lost in the pursuit of freedom in wars.
Work will continue on the cabin, and the roof will be completed in time for the fair.