New holiday ornament sales to help maintain Airmen Memorial
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Eva English
This wooden Christmas ornament was created by Eva English in cooperation with the leaders of the Harlem Airmen Memorial Committee. Part of the proceeds from each sale will go to the Memorial Committee to support upkeep of the site at the edge of Harlem and the one north of town near where the crash actually occurred.
A new holiday tree ornament honoring the memory of the airmen killed in a crash over Harlem more than 30 years ago is now available for the upcoming Christmas season. Eva English, owner of Eva's Laser Engraving Etc. teamed up with leaders of the Harlem Airmen Memorial Committee to design an ornament that could be shared with visitors to the Memorial and others who want to support the upkeep of the two sites honoring the fallen airmen.
The two sites, one in Harlem and one north of town near the actual site, are maintained by the efforts of the Airmen Monument Committee. Darwin Zellmer and Rod Baker currently serve as co-chairs of the group. The committee is made of about a dozen members who take on various maintenance responsibilities for the two sites.
Darwin Zellmer said he approached Eva English about the possibility of using her laser equipment to produce a small, wooden tree ornament that could be shared with visitors to the Airmen Memorials. He told her about a group of veterans from the west coast who came last summer to see where a number of their colleagues died when two C-141B Starlifter Cargo Planes crashed during a routine refueling exercise high above the prairie north of Harlem. Zellmer explained, "It would have been nice to have some small token from the area that would remind visitors that the memory of the comrades in arms is being preserved."
Eva said she liked the idea. She and Darwin, along with some input from other memorial committee members, came up with a design. Roughly one half of the ornament shows the inscription on the main memorial west of town (see attached photo of ornament). The inscription briefly describes the air tragedy that occurred on the early evening of November 30, 1992. The other part of the ornament shows an outline of the C-141B cargo plane and patch (logo) of the 62d Airlift Wing. The ornament will sell for $7 and a portion from each sale will go to the Airmen Memorial Committee.
Two ways to order an Airmen Memorial Christmas ornament
Eva English said to purchase an ornament folks can email her and directly place an order (evaenglish@yahoo.com) or call/text her at 406-353-7171. She explained she has a website (https://evaslaser.com/) but prefers to take orders for the ornaments directly.
Or, locals can call or text Darwin Zellmer at 406-945-5591 to place an order for ornaments. Darwin said he appreciated Eva English's willingness to take on the task of creating and producing the ornaments. He added, "She is producing them for us at her cost so the Memorial Committee can receive some income from each sale."
