WESTFIELD – When Holly Wood first undertook a project to create a war memorial in town, she thought it was going to take years.

Years to plan, more years to raise money, and then a few more to build the memorial.

But through partnerships with Northern Maine Community College and a local business, the $10,000 project is on the fast track toward completion.

That’s why Wood was beaming Wednesday as she welcomed people to the groundbreaking ceremony for the Westfield War Memorial.

“For this project to happen in two years is amazing,” Wood said, between hugs and handshakes with ceremony attendants.

Two years ago, members of the Westfield Jubilee Committee took on a project that town residents had been talking about doing for years – building a memorial to pay tribute to the town’s deceased veterans.

Wood heads the committee, which began in 2002 talking to residents about what the memorial should include, raising nearly $2,500 for it, and drafting a design for the project before putting it out to bid. Committee officials experienced a major setback last spring when the bids came back much higher than what they could afford.

That’s when a committee member suggested asking Northern Maine Community College for help. The college responded by asking Roger Crouse’s drafting students to complete a formal design for the memorial and enlisting Guy Jackson’s first-year construction students to build it.

The college is offering the work and materials as an in-kind donation of about $2,500 to the town, according to NMCC President Timothy Crowley.

“This is a great community service project for our students that reinforces the importance of giving back to the community,” Crowley said Wednesday. “It’s a very worthy project, and it gives students a chance to use the skills they’re learning.”

Crowley said the project was an easy fit for the college, which does several community service projects each year.

“Service learning is an important component of what we do,” Crowley said.

Many others are donating their time and energy to the effort. About 75 percent of project costs are being funded by in-kind contributions, Wood said.

Former Westfield resident Millage Howe created the preliminary design for the memorial, which is composed of two free-standing, 4-foot-wide wooden panels with space for individual name plaques to be attached to each side. The town is compiling a list of names to be included on the memorial, which also will feature a bench and a flagpole surrounded by a flower bed.

Mars Hill company Antworth and Sons will donate the labor and materials for the memorial foundation work.

Officials expect construction to wrap up this fall. They have made tentative plans to host a dedication ceremony for the Westfield War Memorial during the town’s 2005 Westfield Jubilee Days.

As work progresses, Westfield resident and World War II veteran Kempton McManus, 78, said Wednesday that he couldn’t be happier about the project.

“It’s good that the veterans are going to get recognized,” McManus said.

Shaking his head in wonder, he said he never thought the town would have a war memorial and was honored to see for himself the work getting under way. “I know it’s going to come to pass now,” he said.

To add the name of a deceased Westfield veteran to the town’s list, contact the Westfield Town Office at 425-5951. To contribute to the project, contact Holly Wood at 769-2361 or 429-8129.