Wrentham 15 Year Old Fundraising for 9/11 Memorial

Last September, while nearby towns like Foxborough unveiled their 9/11 memorial on the weekend of the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack, the town of Wrentham was quieter in its remembrance for the fallen victims of the tragedy.

If 15-year-old Xaverian High School freshman and Wrentham resident Troy Neubecker gets his way, there will be a new memorial dedicated to the victims of 9/11 at Town Hall to be revealed on the 11th anniversary of the tragedy.

The idea for the memorial initially came from Wrentham Selectmen Chairman Joseph F. Botaish who suggested the idea to Neubecker.

"Someone was saying how we don’t have anything to remember 9/11 so he [Botaish] was kinda annoyed about that,” Neubecker said.

With help from friends, family, and his Boy Scout troop, Neubecker set out to raise the $20,000 needed for the memorial. When Neubecker reaches his fundraising goal, the monument will be placed in front of Town Hall, where a sign with the fundraising totals currently sits. 

Inspired by the World War II Memorial that sits on the town common, the monument will stand 5’8” high and nine feet wide.

“That one always caught my eye,” Neubecker said about the World War II Monument. “That pretty much inspired me for size.”

Fundraising methods have included setting up a hot dog stand in the gravel lot in Wrentham Center back in April and selling 9/11 remembrance wristbands and bumper stickers.

“That was a great turnout,” Neubecker said about the hot dog stand. “I’ve been going to Election Night and collecting donation and that’s pretty much it for big ones. Pretty much being everywhere the public is is where I’m getting my money from and all their support so its great.”

To help create and design the granite memorial, Neubecker is working with Wrentham’s own Tribute In Stone. The actual creation of the memorial will take place in Vermont.

Currently, Neubecker has raised $16,000 out of the $20,000 needed. His hope is that the final $4,000 can come in the final days of May in order to have the memorial ready in time for the 11th anniversary of September 11th. With only a couple more weeks to go, he is confident that he can raise the money in time.

The next fundraiser for the project will be on May 25 at the Cracker Barrel Fairgrounds, where Yogi Bear will be shown as part of Family Movie Night. The field opens at 7:30pm and the movie will start at 8:30pm. The Wrentham Development Center will host the evening in the event of rain.

For more information or to see the project’s progress, check out Wrentham911.com. Donations can be made though PayPal or by mail. To donate by mail, checks should be made payable to “Wrentham 9-11 Memorial” and mailed to Wrentham 9-11 Memorial, c/o Wrentham Co-Operative Bank, 102 South Street, Wrentham, MA 02093. Donations of at least $2,500 will be given sponsorship status and a plaque next to the memorial.