Sandy Hook memorial service held one month before 10th anniversary of massacre

A memorial to the 20 first-graders and six educators killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was unveiled Sunday, one month before the massacre’s 10th anniversary.

A ceremony not far from the school was not planned. In Newtown, it is customary to mark anniversaries and other shooting memories with quiet reflection.

Relatives of some victims gave a private tour of the grounds on Saturday.

“I don’t think the bright lights of the world should shine on them,” said Dan Rosenthal, Newtown’s first select man, the highest elected official in Newtown. rice field.

The memorial was designed as a peaceful place of contemplation. A path with various plantings leads to a water feature with a sycamore tree in the center and the names of the victims inscribed at the top of the surrounding supporting walls.

Water streams are designed to move floatable candles, flowers, and other objects towards the tree and circle around it.

Like the bereaved families of other victims, Jennifer Hubbard watched the memorial service at a private appointment this weekend. Her daughter, Catherine Her Violet Hubbard, 6, was one of her children killed in the Dec. 14, 2012 shooting.

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“Seeing Katherine’s name and seeing what is being made in honor of those who died, their families and those who survived took my breath away.” And the community. And we all suffered.

“I think the memorial was perfectly appointed to honor a day that really changed the country and to provide a space for reflection and reflection,” she said.

Nelva Marquez Greene, whose 6-year-old daughter, Ana Grace Marquez Greene, was murdered, took to Twitter on Saturday to thank those who have worked on the memorial plan for years.

“Ten years. A lifetime and a blink of an eye,” she wrote. , little one. Persist.”

Town voters approved $3.7 million for the memorial last year. Some of the costs were offset when the State Bond Board authorized the town to give his $2.5 million to the project.

After the town set up a task force to oversee the memorial plan in the fall of 2013, the project faced several challenges. Some suggested locations were rejected. Among them was one near a hunting club where gunshots were heard, prompting officials to cut costs for the project. From $10 million due to concerns voters won’t approve it.

© 2022 The Canadian Press