COTTONWOOD — After more than a year of work, the last big hurdle had arrived for the new veterans memorial in Cottonwood.

On Friday morning, artist John Sterner arrived on Cottonwood’s Main Street, hauling a roughly 800-pound steel and bronze sculpture on a trailer. As people watched from the sidewalk, a Pulver Towing crew secured a cable around the sculpture and slowly lifted it into the air.

“I’m pretty excited and nervous at the same time,” said Cottonwood American Legion member Steve Alm.

“There’s always moments of trepidation,” Sterner said of getting the sculpture into its intended place.

But he said the artwork was sturdy, with an inner structure made of steel rods.

The 14-foot sculpture will pay tribute to members of the U.S. armed forces at Cottonwood’s veterans memorial. A dedication ceremony for the memorial will be held at 10 a.m. today during the community’s Coming Home Days festival.

Members of the Cottonwood American Legion post reached out to Sterner about creating a memorial sculpture, and started the fundraising campaign for the $86,000 project.

Legion members said the campaign received strong support.

“It really turned out well, as far as people donating,” said Rick Jeseritz.

In creating the veterans memorial sculpture, Sterner said he drew on sources like U.S. soldiers’ stories for inspiration. One idea that stuck with him was that service members would refer to the number of days left in their tour of duty, “and a wake up.”

Sterner’s sculpture design combined an abstracted silhouette of a flying eagle, with open spaces shaped like sun rays. “That wake-up is the sun rays coming through,” Sterner said. At certain times of day, the sun will shine through the center of the sculpture.

The eagle was also a fitting design in a couple of ways, Sterner said. The eagle represents America, and bald eagles are often active in the morning.

The rough parts of the sculpture’s metal finish represented the scars that U.S. service members carry, he said.

The eagle portion of the sculpture was cast in bronze in Stillwater, and was then attached to an arc-shaped steel base about 14 feet tall.

“The whole thing probably weighs around 750 to 800 pounds,” Sterner said.

Round medallion-shaped structures near the bottom of the sculpture base have space for symbols representing the different branches of the U.S. military.

Sterner and Legion members were looking forward to sharing the veterans memorial sculpture with the community this weekend.

“It’s just wonderful,” Alm said of the finished memorial. It was also positive to see the level of support area residents gave the project. “It’s quite an accomplishment, the community reaching out.”