WINTHROP — A Korean War veteran from Winthrop who helped found Veterans for Peace will be honored during a ceremony Sunday at the town office.

Winthrop Area People for Peace and the Maine chapter of Veterans for Peace will hold a ceremony to honor Tom Sturtevant at 1 p.m. Sunday. The ceremony will include the dedication of a granite peace pole and bench in memory of Sturtevant, who died in 2012. The bench and pole will be erected in the Inch-by-Inch Garden outside the Winthrop Elementary School at the corner of Main Street and Highland Avenue. Sturtevant helped establish the garden in 2009.

Sturtevant, a former Cony High School teacher, helped found Veterans for Peace. The Maine chapter is now named in his honor.

The public dedication ceremony is being coordinated by Karen Richards Toothaker. The ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. in the garden where Kristen McLaren will conduct the Light Choir of the Winthrop United Methodist Church for a brief community sing along.

Doug Rawlings of Veterans for Peace and state Rep. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, who is an organic farmer, will offer remarks.

Sturtevant’s adult children, Ben Sturtevant and Susannah Sturtevant Sanfillipo, will close the program with their father’s bass drum.

There will be refreshments and music following the program.

Jon Jennings of Forgotten Stone Works in Manchester created the peace pole and bench using granite from the Sturtevant family garden in Winthrop. Maine Veterans for Peace and Winthrop Area People for Peace paid for the memorial.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.