The path to Fellowship and Remembrance on Veteran's Day 2019

The United States of America and the United Kingdom share a common memorial day in November, known as Veteran's Day in the USA and Remembrance Day in UK. For me, this Veteran's day was more special as I was able to meet some great men and give back to the community which I live while showing the men of this Regiment that people still care.

In late August 2019 as my Wife and I walked around my new city of residence, Aberdeen, Scotland, we noticed a beautiful Military Monument commemorating The Gordon Highlanders. Unfortunately, the Monument was not maintained to be in a pristine condition and according to many, it was never cleaned, of which I found later to not be true. Although the monument was stained, it was still quite amazing and beautiful at the same time. As September rolled by, I felt that it was a shame the monument was not clean and determined that I had to step up and see what could be done.

Within two months, I was able to get permission from the city, obtain sponsors, and organize a group of people to clean the Gordon Highlander's monument the day before Remembrance Day.

I am quite happy that a loose plan came together as it did and I could not have done it without volunteers that felt this was an important community project.

Many persons in the community rightfully complain that the city should be paying for this to be cleaned; however, we all know that the amount of money the city would spend to conduct a simple two hour cleaning would cost much more than having it arranged by a group of volunteers that care. Not only are there citizens that care, but the businesses surrounding the monument care as well. All the community needed was a little proactive leadership to get things done.

Although this project was successful for the scope of what we initially planned for, now is the time to use the momentum of community interest to expand the scope to include a complete restoration of the monument and the development of a working relationship between the Gordon Highlanders association and the City Council.

My objective is to give back to this community and get people involved by maintaining their own community without waiting on the City Council to act.

Steps to Solving the Problem

The purpose of this is to present, in a slightly systematic way, how I identified this problem and the steps I took to solve the problem; furthermore, I hope you will discover some pieces of information and history that you were unaware of. Finally, we will express the next step we plan on doing, going forward.

Problem Identified

Of course, many people can see general "problems" wherever they are; however, they are not problem solvers, typically these people are just complainers and don't take the problem onto their own. In this case, I assumed the responsibility and instead of waiting for someone else to take action, I determined I will be responsible for this.

Leveraging the Network

The number one rule to be able to accomplish complicated tasks is to have a network of people that may be willing to assist you in your goals. I suggest taking lessons from Dale Carnegie's How to win friends and Influence People, an international best seller. More importantly, understand how an individual may be able to support your cause through their own experience, capabilities, or network. Of course, not everyone will be interested; which means, depending on the size and reliability of your network, you may need to reach out to others which may not be your first choice.

Movers and Shakers

I began contacting some prominent people I had met in the area to see if they could guide me on what to do. The first person I contacted was George Yule, a local man which made his wealth via the entrepreneurial spirit and involvement in the Oil Industry. At which point, he directed me to speak with William "Bill" Cormie, a Council Member in Aberdeen, as he believed Councilor Cormie would be a supporter of this effort and help me further.

Contacting Political Supporters

After writing a compelling issue to Councilor Bill Cormie, he invited me to his office to meet with Ian Cowling, the Hard Facilities Manager of Aberdeen, to discuss what my intentions were. Unfortunately, Mr. Cowling was occupied at that moment since it was a last minute call; however, the meeting with Councilor Cormie came through. The meeting was productive and a major request I had from Councilor Cormie was if he knew anyone that could get me press coverage; low and behold, I was then contacted by Jonathan Hebditch of the Press and Journal.

Obtaining Press Coverage

Jonathan Hebditch was very generous to do a story on our project; helping us gain notoriety and additional volunteers. This publication helped deliver a message to persons which I was not aware of and had no other method of contacting them; however, now they had a method of contacting me to support this cause.

Working with City Staff

As mentioned before, I consulted with Ian Cowling to determine the method in which I am able to clean the monument and some of the history and troubles behind the monument. I found Mr. Cowling to be quite a gentleman and easy to work with. I foresee working relationships with him in the future as we go forward on this project and maybe other projects.

Marketing

The newspaper release from Jonathan Hebditch brought my project to the attention to the public; of which, a few people reached out to me and volunteered. I was quite surprised and happy to see the publication; however, because it is not a paid publication, I was limited on how I could influence the message. Nonetheless, this raised awareness and furthered the discussion on what to do with the monument.

Additionally, I initiated a simple "Event" campaign on Facebook to spread awareness and shared the event in several groups of potential stakeholders (people/organizations that would be interested in the status of the monument). Instead of paying for publication, I went into several "local" Facebook groups and shared the link.

Special Considerations and Thanks

Thank you to all of those which were with us in thought. I received a lot of feedback from various Veterans and Gordon Highlanders.

Recognized Individuals:

• Thank you Mr. Mike McNamera, a Gordon Highlander, for volunteering and his support in our project and assistance in supplies.
• Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Gordon Ross, CEO of Winwood International & AudStar Quality Flowers, for volunteering and his support in our project and assistance in supplies.
• Thank you Mr. Joakim Edman, a Student at University of Aberdeen, for volunteering and his support in our project and assistance in supplies.
• Thank you Mr. Joe Coleman, the General Manager of Peacock Visual Arts, for his support in our project and assistance in supplies.
• Thank you Mr. Jim McPhail, Managing Director of Calpine Cleaning, for his support in our project.
• Thank you Mr. Max Kahlert, an American Student at the University of Aberdeen for volunteering and support in our project.
• Thank you Mr. Neil Collins, a Student at the University of Aberdeen for volunteering and support in our project.

Recognized Companies:

• Peacock Visual Arts for their contribution in step ladders and for the printed materials.
• La Lombarda the first UK Italian Restaurant for their contribution in heating the water.
• Calpine Cleaning for their assistance in developing the Risk Assessment Method Statement to be submitted to the city.
• AudStar Quality Flowers for lending their company van for transport and a tank of water for washing the monument.
• Winwood International Oilfield Services for providing barrier tape and chains, barrier stands, and an A-frame sign for our poster.