Valid Memorial Park Trail Bench denial

Nomination Support
1

When submitting a Wayspot Appeal, make sure to include as much of the following information as possible:

  • Wayspot Title: Liesener Heart Mem. Trail Bench at Glacier Hills County Park

  • Location (lat/lon): address for park entrance is 1664 Friess Lake Rd which is the west side of the park and this nom is on the far east side in the woods along the shoreline of the lake.

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  • City: Hubertus WI 53033

  • Country: USA

  • Screenshot of the Rejection Email (do not include your personal information):

  • Additional Information (if any): The new Seated Bench guidelines include approving this exact type of bench which anchors a viewpoint and encourage exploration and exercise. I included the new criteria with screen good qualifying examples which mirror this nomination!
    This nom is an engraved memorial bench. It is not based on the importance of the individual but is based on it anchoring a view and promoting exploration and exercise! Nevertheless it is a permanently affixed bench in which the memorial message goes through the county park systems approval and donation process. This bench is in a 140 acre forest park along a hiking trail on the shoreline of Friess Lake so it is anchored ie permanently installed/not moveable nor temporary, and it is engraved and does in fact have a view and gives incentive to explore the hiking trail and get exercise! A no brainer as per Wayfarer criteria guidelines re seated benches.

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2

can you supply a screenshot showing the section with the “Niantic notes”? was what they said clearly wrong or just a matter of opinion?

3

Hi @mainstead
I’ve closed your second thread about this bench and moved your topic to Nomination Support. Because the category Wayspot Appeals is for appealing rejected removal requests or to ask for reinstating removed wayspots.
Thanks @cyndiepooh

4

All benches have a view, whether the view is extremely scenic such as the ones in the criteria is what the reviewers have to decide.

With what I can see this is a standard bench (as seen by the duplicate next to it) with a “In Memory Of” which you have not proved to be of “importance”.

You have failed to show any “Viewpoint” in either image, to me this is a standard bench on the side of the lake and I would have rejected it myself.

5

I added 2 more screen shots for the denial ‘reasons’

1 Like
6

again, read the entire criteria standard. I included three pages of Niantic’s criteria with their examples of good noms like mine. If the bench is not based on the importance of the person being memorialized it may still be approved if it anchors a view and promotes exploration and exercise which this does exactly that!

7

I don’t see where you have explained how Joe is important to the community, an important aspect for memorial benches.

I also don’t see the engraving as making this unique, as there used to be engraved wooden benches in my hometown that were sponsored by businesses or were in memory of someone, and they didn’t stand out from any of the others. Your supporting photo even shows another bench nearby with engraving on it, so again, not that distinct.

8

Joe doesn’t have to be important because the nom is not based on who Joe is. Read the entire criteria. this nom promotes exercise and exploration of a massive county park that is mostly woods/ forest with hiking trails.

9

Many of us here are pretty aware of the Criteria Clarification Collection, and have read up on them. Nothing about this bench meets any of the criteria laid out in the Seating Benches section though, from the info you have provided in your nomination.

The burden of proof is always on the submitter. You didn’t provide any info as to why Joe is important to the community. Your main photo doesn’t show this to be a bench where one can see a scenic viewpoint. The engraving appears to be on many benches in this part, making it indistinct and not artisitc.

10

the pictures niantic gives for good bench examples (which i included in this post) are exactly like this nom.

11

But you nominated a memorial bench. Please reread the first paragraph of the Seating Benches section. You did not prove that Joe was important to the community. Regardless of the photo, you have to prove why the person this bench is a memorial to was significant to the community.

12

“an anchor at a significant point such as a scenic viewpoint.”

You nomination as not proved this to be significant or a scenic viewpoint.

What you are saying is that you are nominating a “Scenic Viewpoint”, in this case the Title should be the viewpoint, and the images should show the View. It would be then down to the Reviewers to decide if they believe it to be significant.

I do not see your description but the image focus’s on the text and this is also stated in your Supplemental.

With the information you supplied I would have taken this as a standard bench and would have selected “Not Distinct”.

13

Here’s an example of a memorial/dedication bench that I find acceptable:

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It’s dedicated to the former First Lady of North Dakota. She’s a substance abuse sobriety advocate, being a former user herself. Besides the work she’s done with her husband, the former governer, her birth family, the Kilbournes, are known for their many real estate developments in the area. She is someone that is important to the community, not just in the city, but the state as well.

14

Hello,
The information in the criteria clarification makes it clear that it these may be eligible. Being eligible does not make something automatically acceptable.
The title focuses on it being a memorial bench - no mention of a view or of it being artistic.
Desription : I have not seen the original description
Supporting info again emphasis on it being a memorial bench along a trail I don’t read anything about view artistic quality,.

I’m not clear exactly what info you gave in the appeal.
As in the examples in criteria clarification I would expect a bench being about being an anchor to take in tge view to show that view.

There is a lot of good feedback here from others. I suggest a fresh submission with it being about the view. So a picture with the bench but more importantly the view you get.

3 Likes
15

omg this is not about a significant person. It is about getting out of the parking lot and exploring our huge county park trails through beautiful nature. Like the title of the park implies…Glacier Hills Park… this is hilly moraine topography preserved in our state and county parks left from ice glaciers receding. The memorial on the bench just helps identify its location. Ironically a less exciting memorial bench in this same park located atop the designated sledding hill was approved and even highlighted on the Wayfarer cover page for this area! no consistency at all.

16

The benches may be similar but they show the “Scenic View” which you haven’t.

If you beleive that this bench is a significant view point then you need to re-nominate…

The Title should be the “View”: Glacier Hills Country Park Viewpoint".
The main image should be of the view with the bench shown if possible.
The 2nd image is fine.
The Supplemental Info: Should state that you are nominating the viewpoint and that its on xxxx trail etc.

The memorial does not need to be mentioned as you have agreed it is not significant.

17

I cannot stand behind the bench for a full view because the ground is too steep and I do not have boat to show it from the water. The trail width is all I had to work with.

18

Unfortunately, the clarification notes that the person must have been of significance to the community, and as the submitter, you must explain this in the nomination. You are calling it a memorial bench in the title, so you have to prove the significance of the person in the submission.

Being a bench along a trail, well, many trails have benches, and many tend to be pretty indistinct. Like I noticed with the other bench in the supporting photo, it seems to have engraving on it as well. It’s also really close by, so there seems to be a good number of these around this trail, so not very distinct.

As for the other benches that have Wayspots, criteria changes from time to time, and there was a time when these were allowed. However, criteria was changed in May 2024, hence the Seating Benches criteria section, to know how they may be eligible, as long as the submitter proves that the person the bench is a memorial to is a person of significance to the area. Before May 2024, many of these benches were being accepted, and many in the Wayfarer community didn’t feel that they actually met criteria, or that having a Wayspot at a memorial bench may be a bit disrespectful to the person and/or family of the person that the bench is in memorial to.

The other memorial benches you see were once eligible, and may have been approved before the criteria change. Now, they are ineligible, so any new memorial benches that get nominated and don’t prove the significance of the person aren’t eligible. I have a feeling that these memorial benches are just for people that liked going to this trail or lived nearby, but didn’t have much of a contribution to the trail itself.

This just may be something you move on from trying to nominate again, since you don’t know who Joe is, can’t get a good photo showing the view point of the lake, and there are already a good number of Wayspots here to begin with.

19

It can be difficult but with the images / info you have supplied you the reviewers where right to reject.

As stated having the bench in shot “if possible” would be preferable but if you are nominating the View then the View 100% needs to be in the image.

The description could be along the lines of “Scenic Viewpoint overlooking xxxx Lake with benches allowing you to rest whilst taking in the serenity of the natural landscape.”.

20

I can see there is not much room, but something might be possible to get something in. Is there any more scope with the neighbouring bench? It looks slightly better.