After reading about efforts to memorialize child abuse fatality victims in stone, a Mooresville sculptor knew he wanted to be involved.
"I want to see it happen," said Dean Reganess, a third generation stone mason.
Reganess, the father of three children, said his desire to pay tribute to child abuse victims is a personal one.
"My mother was almost a victim of the same thing. I saw the effect it had on her," he said.
So when Reganess read about the efforts of SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now) ARK program director David Henson to place a stone memorial wall in Oakwood Cemetery, he wanted to help.
"I was really impressed with David's fortitude to see this happen," he said.
Reganess placed a call to Henson, and the two men began communicating about the plan.
The biggest hurdle now, Henson said, is finding the funding to complete the project.
Reganess estimated it would cost about $10,000 to get everything done.
He has high hopes that the memorial can become a reality in the next couple of months.
"There have been lots of setbacks, but we've kept on keeping on," he said.
Reganess started developing his talent for stone carving when he was a small child.
"At 7 years old I was doing sand sculptures. I did one that was a 9-foot-long lion. That got my parents' attention," he said.
Reganess said his love of artistic talents can be traced to his grandfather, August, who was a skilled calligraphist.
He worked as a stone mason since his teen years, but was looking for his artistic voice, he said.
A trip to Ireland in 2001 provided that voice. He met master carver John Groggin, who talked with Reganess about Celtic stone carving.
Reganess said he returned to the U.S. with the intention of developing that style and teaching it to others.
He eventually founded Coralatavii Stone Inc., and some of his projects include a hand-carved, 190-pound trophy made of white Vermont marble that was commissioned by the Lowe's Corp. for a NASCAR Sprint Cup Kobalt Tools 500 race in Atlanta, as well as a public art project in limestone relief portraying the people of Davidson at the corner of Main and Eugenia streets.
Reganess returned from Ireland so anxious to practice his stone carving that he couldn't wait for the right chisels.
"He started with a carpenter's chisel and a hammer," his wife, Karen, said. "He'd ordered the new chisels, but couldn't wait for them to get here."
In addition to his stone-carving business, Reganess continues to teach the art form.
Some of the classes he teaches include adult introductory to stone carving, adult advanced stone carving, youth stone carving and children's stone carving as well as one-on-one classes.
While Reganess loves sharing his talents through his classes and his stone carvings, he said, he can think of no better way to give of his time and talent than with the child abuse memorial.
"You can't get a better cause than that," he said.
Want more?
To help with the memorial or for information on classes by Dean Reganess, call (980) 253-2251, e-mail info@carverroad.com or online at www.CarverRoad.com.
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