"Construction costs are $40,000 higher than previously estimated." The Parks & Trails Commission recorded that line at Longview Farm House on February 2, 2026, according to its meeting minutes. The next sentence explains why a ribbon cutting is on the calendar for Wednesday, November 11: "Efforts are underway to reduce the scope and raise additional funds."
The project is Town and Country's Military and First Responders Tribute. The city's own October 2026 newsletter calls it "privately funded." Its grand opening is listed for Wednesday, November 11, from 11 a.m. to noon at Town Square, 13360 Clayton Road. So the newest permanent feature on the lawn that hosts the city's concerts and its holiday tree lighting is being paid for by private donations from residents, area businesses and nonprofits, not by the city budget. It is nearing the finish line through the same small network of volunteers and commissions behind much of the fall calendar.
From a groundbreaking to a ribbon cutting
The tribute came from the Veterans & First Responders Task Force. The group meets at the call of its chair. Its 2025 meetings were held at noon at Longview Farm House and chaired by Sue Allen, who left the Board of Aldermen in April 2025. Its minutes, posted in the city's agenda center, show the project passing from donors to staff to a contractor over five steps.
- A Veterans Day groundbreaking. At its January 29, 2025 meeting, the task force recapped "a successful groundbreaking" held on Veterans Day 2024 at 10 a.m. Members then went over donation reports and split up the follow-up on outstanding pledge checks. Staff liaison Anne Nixon was assigned to ask Musick Construction for a construction contract.
- A stone structure takes shape on paper. On May 29, 2025, the task force reviewed a stone structure estimated at $66,000. Members also looked at stones from Earthworks at about $2,000 apiece, three to six in all, priced delivered but not installed, and planned a field trip to see them on June 12.
- The task force steps back. The same minutes say later construction meetings would include only the chair, city staff and Musick Construction. The full group would be called back only if "a significant change to the project needs approval."
- The overrun. By February 2026, costs were running $40,000 above the earlier estimate. The response was to cut the scope and keep raising money.
- Under construction, with the date set. The October 2026 newsletter reports the tribute "is under construction and set for ribbon cutting on Veteran's Day."
The minutes don't say which estimate the $40,000 was measured against. The $66,000 figure from May 2025 covered only the stone structure, in a project budgeted at about $300,000, so the two numbers can't be compared directly. At the 2024 groundbreaking, the hope was a ribbon cutting by Veterans Day 2025. A year later than first hoped, the city's newsletter is now promoting one.
The last stretch is still being funded
The project is not fully paid for yet. In its October edition, the city newsletter says donations are still being accepted through GoFundMe "for a few finishing touches." That makes the gift unusual among the season's events. Most of what happens on Town Square comes and goes in an afternoon. A donation to the tribute goes into something that will still be standing when the Winterfest tree comes down.
The newsletter prints a photo of the construction and says "there will be more to come." The design is already on the city's tribute page: a solitary stone with the American flag, a concrete base engraved with "duty, sacrifice, courage and valor," and a seating wall with the military and first responder crests. November 11 is the first public ceremony at the tribute itself.
Wednesday, November 11, at 11 a.m.
The details fit in one line. Town Square, 13360 Clayton Road, from 11 a.m. to noon on Veterans Day. The hour is set for a Wednesday, so anyone who can step away from work before lunch has the whole ceremony window. The task force's groundbreaking, recapped in its January 2025 minutes, was also held on Veterans Day, at 10 a.m., so the project starts and finishes on the same holiday.
Town Square has been getting its own maintenance work in the background. This summer the Parks & Trails Commission asked for quotes on replacing a cracked concrete slab at Town Square and on an electronic control for its irrigation system. HR Green was writing bid specs for repairs to the Town Square tunnel. At the same June meeting, one commissioner asked about adding bait fish to the Town Square pond.
Thanksgiving morning, the Turkey Trot turns twenty
Fifteen days after the ribbon cutting, the season moves up Clayton Road to Longview Farm Park, 13525 Clayton Road. The Turkey Trot is on Thanksgiving, November 26. The three-mile run/walk starts at 9 a.m., and the half-mile kids' fun run starts at 10 a.m. This is the event's 20th anniversary, and the commission's June minutes list a new logo to mark it.
The city's newsletter calls the route "a scenic run/walk through Longview Farm Park and nearby neighborhoods." It also says the event "gets more popular every year," so register early. At the October 12 Board of Aldermen meeting, Alderman Murphy announced that registration was live and encouraged sign-ups by October 31 for the early-bird discount. The race registration page lists a price increase after November 1, and race-day sign-up opens 30 minutes before each start.
People driving in will park somewhere new. Work on the Longview parking lot started June 22. The August schedule called for the entrance ramp to finish in August, the stormwater work in September and resurfacing in October. At the September 28 Board of Aldermen meeting, according to the minutes, Alderman Murphy reported that the lot was "largely finished with the final items being bioswale plantings and sidewalk handrails." So the 20th Turkey Trot should use the rebuilt lot, not a construction zone. Overflow parking is at Town Square, and the race page lists a shuttle to and from First Church of Christ, Scientist.
The same commission tracks the tribute's progress and plans the Trot, along with a Longview and Drace sidewalk study the August agenda says will feed into the 2027 budget recommendations. It also has the Preservation Park pickleball and bike playground in the works. As of August 17, plans for that project were at 70 percent and under review by the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, and the agreement with American Ramp Company had been approved.
December 5, back on the same lawn
The season ends where it began. Winterfest runs Saturday, December 5, from 1 to 5:30 p.m. at Town Square. The newsletter promises "new activities, vendors, and entertainment for the whole family." The afternoon closes with the annual holiday tree lighting at 5:30 p.m. Updates will be on the city's Winterfest page.
"We will cap off the celebration at Town Square with our annual holiday tree lighting at 5:30 PM." (City of Town and Country, October 2026 newsletter)
This year's tree lighting will happen beside a tribute that wasn't there last December. October's Fire & Ice at Longview Farm showed how much these events depend on the community. Ahead of the October 3 event, Alderman Murphy thanked sponsors Mari de Villa, Peoples National Bank and The Principia, and announced music by Whiskey Morning and the second annual drone show. The tribute was built the same way, through pledges, follow-up calls and a GoFundMe for its finishing touches. The commission has already scheduled its Winterfest wrap-up for Tuesday, December 15.
The three dates are November 11 at 11 a.m. on Town Square, November 26 at 9 a.m. (three miles) or 10 a.m. (kids' half mile) at Longview Farm Park, and December 5 from 1 to 5:30 p.m., ending with the tree lighting.
Knowing Town and Country means following its civic calendar as closely as its streets, from task force minutes to Turkey Trot start times. To talk about the community behind Town Square, from the ribbon cutting to the tree lighting, schedule a private consultation at www.NikaLeoni.com.
