| Allegheny Plateau Association of Professional Land Surveyors Surveyors Memorial Monument |
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"To Those Whose Footsteps We Follow"
On August 25, 2006, members of the Allegheny Plateau Association of Professional Land Surveyors and the North Central Pennsylvania Society of Land Surveyors met to dedicate a Surveyors Memorial Monument near the State Line between Allegany County, NY and Potter County, PA - a culmination of several years of work and planning to bring the monument project to fruition.
The project began with Steve Hubertus. In 2002, Doug Myers, a well known, loved and respected Surveyor and member of APAPLS passed away after a long battle with cancer. It was Steve's thought to commemorate Doug in some way, but the options were few. The Allegheny Plateau Scholarship had recently been dedicated to the memory of Robert Lucas (another deceased member of the society). It occurred to Steve that there should be a way to commemorate other respected members of the Land Surveying community, and some form of permanent monument seemed like the best option.
Steve proposed his idea to the members of APAPLS, and the members liked the idea and formed a Monument Committee with Steve as the Chairman. Jim Ball, Mike Canada, Herb Ehrig, Charles Lang and Art McLaughlin all volunteered for the committee. Since a number of Surveyors in the region are licensed in Pennsylvania and are members of the Pennsylvania Society of Land Surveyors, Jim and Steve brought the concept to the members of the PSLS North Central Chapter - and their membership decided to get involved with the project as well. The project became one that transcended the NY/PA state line, thus it was decided to find a location for the monument on or near the state line.
It took approximately three years to raise the money for the monument, through donations from APAPLS and NCPSLS members, as well as surveyors across New York and Pennsylvania. A safe and accessible location for the monument was chosen - on land owned by Mike Canada within feet of the NY/PA State Line, along County Route 33 in the Town of Bolivar, Allegany County, NY.
The monument's sculptor was Glen Zweygardt, Professor of Sculpture at Alfred University. Granite for the monument was hand selected in Vermont by Professor Zweygardt. The monument is designed and drilled with installation points for 42 bronze markers, to be engraved with the name and license number of future deceased Land Surveyors. Bronze markers were acquired through Bernsten Monuments. The engraving for the first marker, and the template for future markers, was done by James Palmer of Crandall Jewelers in Alfred, NY. CAD overlays for the monument lettering were provided by Bill Peisher of Woodburn Monuments in Canisteo, NY.
On August 6, 2006, several volunteers met at the monument site to install the monument and orient it towards North, and on August 25th, 2006, in conjunction with the APAPLS Annual Picnic, members of APAPLS and NCPSLS met for a monument dedication ceremony. Doug Myers, the primary inspiration for the monument project, has the honor of the first marker installed in the monument, and members of Doug's family were present for the dedication ceremony.
The Monument Committee will process applications for inclusion on the stone. Any donations will be either used to maintain the monument, or be split between APAPLS and NCPSLS for "the betterment of the Profession of Surveying." To contact the Monument Committee, please use the APAPLS Contact Form
If you would like to visit the monument, you can find it at N42deg-00'-01.8", W078deg-07'-17.7" (NAD83) - or click here for a Map showing the monument site
