Garden ceremony keeps memory of murder victims alive
Gideon Bradshaw/Observer-Reporter
Pam Tarr speaks on Sunday during a ceremony in the Crime Victims’ Memorial Garden.
Gideon Bradshaw/Observer-Reporter
Marie Christinas, director of the Washington County district attorney’s office of victim services, makes remarks Sunday.
Gideon Bradshaw/Observer-Reporter
Pastor Lance Whitlock leads attendees in prayer Sunday during a ceremony in the Crime Victims’ Memorial Garden.
Gideon Bradshaw/Observer-Reporter
Local singer Steven Thomas gives a solemn performance Sunday during a National Remembrance Day ceremony in the Crime Victims’ Memorial Garden.
For Pam Tarr, adding another stone to the garden behind the Washington County Courthouse is cause for reflection rather than celebration.
“In 2008, we started with 38 names,” Tarr said. “And as you can see, now, we have over 150 names here. Why? I just don’t understand why.”
The name of Tarr’s own son, Thomas Jr. – who was shot and killed during a robbery in 2006 – is one of those inscribed on the stones in the Crime Victims’ Memorial Garden, which she helps care for.
On Sunday, several dozen people, many of whom were still mourning loved ones, gathered there for a ceremony marking the National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims. It was the 12th held in Washington.
Marie Christinis, director of crime victim services for the county district attorney’s office, told the audience “the peace from this garden comes from everyone sitting here today.”
“You have brought the peace to this garden, because you have chosen good over evil,” she added. “You’ve chosen to honor the memory of every single person in this garden, and although their voices may have been silenced, they speak every day. They speak when laws are changed, they speak when you have 5K runs, they speak when you have spaghetti dinners, they speak for everyone sitting here, and their voices are rising.”
The event also included a prayer led by Pastor Lance Whitlock of Legacy Church in Washington and musical performances by local singer Steven Thomas, a butterfly release and a procession of bereaved people who poured colorful sand into a clear glass container as they named the dead.
During his own remarks, District Attorney Gene Vittone quoted from a speech Sen. Robert F. Kennedy – only months before his own assassination – gave the day after the murder of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King to lament the “mindless menace of violence.”
The point of Kennedy’s speech, Vittone said, was that violence affects not just those close to its victims but “each and every one of us and destroys the fabric of our community.”
He went on to tell those grieving someone he wasn’t going to pretend to understand what they’re going through.
“Today we acknowledge the personal struggle that you undergo daily to live the remainder of your lives,” Vittone added. “We acknowledge your strength.”