Downtown cannons return to the monument in latest step in recovery from Helene

ELIZABETHTON — There is another symbol that Elizabethton and Carter County are continuing to recover from Hurricane Helene, and that symbol is at the very heart of the county.It was a beautiful fall day last Friday. Ron Wagenseller and Harley Berry of Ron's Masonry made the most of the beautiful weather by rebuilding the two pedestals for the bronze cannons on both the northern and southern points of the traffic circle at the Veteran's Monument in Downtown Elizabethton.The two men were very selective in where they placed the limestone rocks in the new pedestal. Each piece of limestone had been selected to match. The cannon was already mounted on the pedestal. Wagenseller said they were trying to give the cannon and pedestal an old look, even through they were just now creating the pedestal.Oner of old pedestals that is being replaced now lies at the edge of the Stoney Creek Highway. That is where a tractor trailer truck from Douglasville, Ga. had dragged it all the way from downtown after running over it and one of the cannons back in February. It was just one of several times that trucks had run into the cannons during the time when the normal truck route through town had been altered because Hurricane Helene had damaged the Broad Street Bridge.Because trucks had a difficult time going around the small traffic circle near the Elk Avenue Bridge, the city had placed large signs advising that trucks were not permitted to drive through downtown on Elk Avenue. But that didn't stop lots of trucks trying to find an alternate route across the Doe River. They kept coming and kept running over the cannons at the monument. It led the county to remove the cannons and pedestals until now.Most trucks stopped coming through downtown Elizabethton when the Tennessee Department of Transportation reopened the repaired Broad Street Bridge back in July.It was expected that the cannons would be returned to the monument now that traffic had calmed down. After all, the cannons had been a part of the traffic circle since the United States War Department had donated them back in 1912.Wagenseller was pleased to be able to do the restoration work, which he hopes will be on display in downtown Elizabethton for many, many years. Of course, most masonry tends to stay put for a long time if trucks don't run over it.It is not the only place in downtown where Wagenseller has left enduring landmarks. His has been restoring the overhead canopies that are such an iconic part of the downtown sidewalks. He said the canopy project has been going on for eight years. There were 170 columns to refurbish at the start of the project. Wagenseller said there are 32 left to complete the work.Wagenseller has also done the attractive brickwork at the two story entrance to the Carter County Courthouse, just northeast of the Veterans Monument and the traffic circle. Wagenseller has also completed many attractive masonry features on homes throughout Carter County.Wagenseller said he learned masonry from his stepfather, George Gross. Because his father died very young, he said Gross has been his stepfather since he was 18 months old. He has lived in Carter County his entire life. While he worked for his stepfather for many years, he said his first paying job was delivering the Johnson City Press when he was a sophomore in high school in the 1980-81 school year. His mother, Sylvia Gross, worked at radio station WIDD.Elizabethton and Carter County have been an integral part of Wagenseller's entire life. His work is now an integral part of some of the city and county's most iconic buildings. Even after hurricane's and 18-wheelers do their worst damage.