43
Canfield War Vet Museum undergoing renovations as Speece family continues to run the facility
By ROBERT CONNELLY
CANFIELD
Doug Speece is continuing his father’s legacy with the War Vet Museum at 23 E. Main St. as it undergoes renovations.
The renovation project began with a letter-writing campaign to raise funds by 11-year old Scotty Crawford. Scotty has raised nearly $17,000 and is still going strong.
“It means everything” to keep the Canfield War Vet Museum going, Speece said. His father and the museum’s operator, Lewis “Lew” Speece Jr., died in February at 89. “This was his last 25 years. This is what he did.”
“We promised we would keep it going and fix things up. This was his baby. He bought the house in 1988 [and] completely redid the inside since it was falling apart.”
Scotty’s letters featured a photo of the museum at the top, a few handwritten sentences asking for donations and at the bottom information on how to donate. He is assisted by his mother, Atty. Anne Crawford, who organizes the paperwork. Scotty said he is now close to having raised $17,000 with a goal of $18,000 – but his hope is to raise $25,000. He has talked in front of civic groups, such as The Junior Women’s League of Canfield, which donated $5,000 to the cause in May.
Scotty said this began after his class went on a tour of the museum when he was in third grade. He is going into sixth grade at Canfield Village Middle School.
“We started talking about it when we got home, and my mom said, ‘How about we raise money for it.’ and I said OK. And then I wrote my first letter and got $2,000,” he said.
Scotty approached Sam Boak, of Canfield Rotary and the owner of Boak & Sons, about the project. Boak in turn pointed out that the building needed more than new siding. “As Sam Boak said, ‘If you do the project, you got to do it right,’” he said.
“We need to honor our veterans because they fought, and they’re still fighting for us today to be a free country, so we need to respect them and this is a good place to get education too,” Scotty added.
Recently Speece worked on fixing the library section of the museum while Boak & Sons workers were replacing the siding on the home built in 1809. Last week was the first week of work, which included finishing the rear, east side of the building.
Jim Cutter and Bill Green of Boak & Sons are overseeing the project. Cutter said crews will be out for two or three days at a time – donating the labor cost – between the company’s normal work. The library’s three walls of patio sliding doors are taken out, as those had allowed heat in and damaged museum items. There are also new metal window wraps, in a “military blue.”
Cutter said he expects the siding to be finished by Labor Day, Sept. 7, and Scotty hopes the project is done by Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
Boak said Canfield Rotary gave $10,000 to the renovations. Banner Supply gave a discounted rate on the siding material.
Boak & Sons bought the materials and is installing them, and a $5,000 grant from Home Depot will provide for exterior landscaping. Boak also said there will be new shelving, lighting and ceiling in the library room.
Boak said the cost of all museum renovations will range between $80,000 and $100,000. Plumbing and electric upgrades also will be made.
The museum has 17 rooms on four floors, and various features from model trains in the basement to rooms dedicated to specific conflicts on the first and second floors. An attic on the third floor, which opened in 2002, is for the Persian Gulf War, Iraqi War and Native American war.
Speece said the top floor includes one of his father’s favorite museum items, a Soviet SPG6-9 73 MM recoilless gun that is set up in a glassed-off area.
Ron Santoro, who has lived in Canfield nearly 20 years, is thankful and appreciative of the renovation work. He served in the Army and was assigned to artillery.
“It just tickles me that this young fella, Scotty, has the heart and willingness and is devoting his time, and to have the awareness of what this museum means to so many veterans. It’s a monument,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me. As far as getting it [passed] on to the kids, keeping them aware of what their forefathers did for this country, and personally it fills my heart.”
Santoro served at Thule Air Base in Greenland, which was surrounded by Army officers operating artillery to protect the base. He served there from 1958 to 1959.
“I just want the kids to have something to go to. I want my grandsons to be able to take their kids there someday,” Santoro said.
“I hope it means a lot” to the community, Speece said. “We get a lot of young kids from the schools that come in. It teaches the kids something about history, and the museum is nice because it’s not everything under glass. It’s hands-on and you can touch it.”
For anyone wanting to give a monetary donation, there is a bank account set up at Farmers National Bank for the War Vets Museum Building Fund. The War Vet Museum is a 501(c)(3) entity, and donations to it are tax-deductible.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays during the renovation work.