Along Fremont’s red-bricked Soldiers Memorial Parkway and McKinley Memorial Parkway, the trees planted a century ago to honor fallen soldiers had decayed to stumps, each marked only by a small brass placard. Now they’re coming back — thanks in part to a very good dog.

The memorial dates to 1920 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1991). It originally held 85 trees for the World War I dead along Soldiers Memorial Parkway, plus 10 more on McKinley Parkway for the dead of four earlier military actions. Each tree carries a metal label with the soldier’s name, rank, unit, and place and date of death.

The restoration was inspired by Merlin, a large, friendly Old English sheepdog who walks the parkways several times a day with Cathy and Tony Chudzinski. Tony’s great-uncle, Roman L. Chudzinski, died of pneumonia at Camp Sherman during World War I before he could deploy — and his tree is the only memorial anywhere bearing Roman’s name.

The Birchard Historical Neighborhood has collected more than $5,000 in donations toward an estimated $8,000 project cost, and the city is contributing in-kind stump removal and planting worth several thousand dollars more. The city will plant 25 red, yellow, and Ohio buckeye trees, with shade expected back by next Memorial Day.

The timing fits the day: Fremont VFW Post 2947 hosts its annual Veterans Day ceremony at the Sandusky County Courthouse today at 11 a.m., and the Fremont Exchange Club holds a Flags of Honor ceremony at 11:30 a.m. Full story via The News-Messenger.

An Old English sheepdog like Merlin (photo is illustrative, not Merlin himself). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.