MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - The new Marketplace on the Green venue will not only soon be the home to the Meridian Township Farmers' Market, but it will also be home to a memorial dedicated to former Meridian Township Trustee John Veenstra.

Liaison For Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation (LINC) President, Neil Bowlby, presented the Meridian Township Board with a $4,300 check to fund the construction of a park bench, bike rack, bike repair station and memorial plaque all dedicated to honor Veenstra’s legacy.

“I’m really glad that LINC was the organization that helped to give tribute to him,” said Brett Dreyfus, Township Clerk. “I think the actual selection of the bike repair station, and the bicycle parking and the bench are really so suited for the man that John was.”

Ron Styka, Township Supervisor, said the plan for the memorial is wonderful.

Styka, who was a contributor to the memorial fund, said Veenstra was, “very citizen minded, very concerned about the environment and very concerned about Meridian in all of its respects.”

Veenstra passed away in 2017 and LINC began fundraising for the memorial in early 2018 with an initial goal of $3,400 to complete the project. The additional money raised from surpassing that goal, Bowlby said, was used to purchase more, “deluxe,” versions of the monuments that were originally planned.