Time to repair Fort Snelling National Cemetery carillon

By Tim Engstrom
Dick Middleton and Glenn Anderson of Chanhassen Post 580, right, meet with Fort Snelling National Cemetery officials.

Chanhassen Post 580 and V4V join forces to bring back the music

FORT SNELLING — An effort by Chanhassen Post 580 member Dick Middleton and Post 580 Commander Glenn Anderson to raise funds to repair the carillon at Fort Snelling has found a home.

The Minnesota Veterans 4 Veterans Trust Fund will be the recipient organization for the effort to raise $90,000 for the project.

Chanhassen Post 580 cannot receive the donations because, under state gambling laws, a licensed gambling organization cannot donate to a licensed gambling organization except under certain circumstances. Post 580 has a gambling license and operates a booth at its popular restaurant.

The carillon at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.
The carillon at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

However, the Gambling Control Board staff gave the green light to unlicensed Minnesota V4V to receive the funds because it indeed is eligible to receive gambling donations under Code 26 of the “A Codes,” the lawful purpose expenditures in the gambling manual.

“V4V is a perfect home for this project. That way, Legion, VFW and other groups will want to participate,” said Past Department Commander Don Pankake, who sits on the V4V Board of Directors.

Most national cemeteries have a carillon that can play patriotic music, bugle calls such as “Taps,” chimes, bells and other sounds. The existing one at Fort Snelling was installed in 1986 — it’s actually the third one — and, in 2003, the speaker line was cut inadvertently. It hasn’t been repaired since.

With Anderson by his side, Middleton has made it his mission to get it functional again.

“This project is about the veterans and loved ones who are there,” Middleton said. “It’s not about blame or fault. That is so hindsight. We are looking forward.”

Post 580 applied for and received approval from the Department of Veterans Affairs and its National Cemetery Administration to raise and donate the funds for the project.

Chanhassen Post 580 member Dick Middleton and Post 580 Commander Glen Anderson stand beside the carillon at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.
It’s not a birdhouse. It’s not for bats. It’s not for repelling mosquitoes. It’s a carillon. Chanhassen Post 580 member Dick Middleton and Post 580 Commander Glen Anderson stand beside the carillon at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. They have made it the post’s mission to bring music back to the tower, and they have partnered with Veterans 4 Veterans Trust Fund to make it happen.

The funds would connect the cemetery administration building to the carillon tower via an underground conduit. Wireless signals are disallowed because of the nearby airport.

The funds would cover the cost for a modern sound system, with new speakers and controls. The company that typically works on cemetery carillons is Chimemaster. Middleton said the company recently installed them at the Air Force Academy and at the Black Hills National Cemetery.

To donate:
Make the check out to “Minnesota V4V Carillon Fund.” Mail it to Chanhassen American Legion Post 580, 290 Lake Drive E., Chanhassen, MN 55317.

This way, Middleton can track donors and send out thank-you letters. After he does that, the checks go to the V4V treasurer to be deposited in the bank.

V4V was established in 2006 with funds from the $5.7 million sale of Big Island Veterans Camp on Big Island in Lake Minnetonka to the City of Orono. Though four veterans organizations appoint the board’s directors to two-year terms, V4V operates independently and is not considered “affiliated” to them under gambling rules.

From the interest and dividends of the initial seed money, V4V regularly gives grants to programs that benefit veterans, such as $25,000 to help veterans in remote northwestern Minnesota receive transportation to a VA hospital.