19 Jul Memorial Service and Tree Dedication for Victims of COVID in our Community

Photo of Carolina Silverbell by John Hilty, Illinois Wildflowers

Our Brattleboro area community has lost many loved ones to the Coronavirus. The Town of Brattleboro, Compassionate Brattleboro and Brattleboro Area Hospice wish to honor and remember these loved ones in a brief ceremony which will take place at the very beginning of Gallery Walk, 5 PM on Friday Sept. 2. (Rain date, as with the rest of Gallery Walk, is Saturday Sept. 3).

In the course of this ceremony, the Town will be dedicating a Carolina Silver Bell Tree just outside of the Municipal Building (Main St. in Brattleboro), and there will soon be a plaque placed on or near the tree to mark this dedication. Our ceremony will take place on the lawn around that tree between the Municipal Building and the Library.

One relative of each of these departed loved ones will be invited to speak very briefly about the individual and to provide on cardboard or poster board a 3”x 5” color photo of the departed person along the person’s name and up to 5 words about the person. These will be put together in a display which will be placed for some period of time in the Municipal Building.

If you have lost a family member to COVID and would like to participate, kindly confirm this via email to compassionstory@gmail.com

In addition to these words from family members and the tree dedication pronounced by Town Tree Board member Robert Clements, brief words will be offered by officials of the Town and of Hospice. The Hallowell Singers will also be present to provide appropriate music. And a photograph will be taken of family members surrounding the tree. The event may be covered by BCTV as well as the press.