Opening the Newtown Memorial to the Victims of the Slain Sergeant Cbci Sgr B.C. Hubbard
The long-awaited memorial to the victims officially opened to the public on Sunday, drawing visitors steadily throughout the day. There was no ceremony, in keeping with Newtown’s tradition of marking anniversaries and other remembrances of the shooting with quiet reflection.
The memorial consists of a “circling network” of paths that lead visitors through woodland, across ponds and meadows to the center – a fountain that sits in a granite basin engraved with the names of the victims, according to its description on the designers’ website.
A young sycamore is planted at the center of the planter to symbolize the young age of the victims. The motion of the water embraces the tree and captures the energy, form, and cycle of the landscape around it,” the website says.
It states visitors are urged to give a candle or flower to the water in order to bridge the dead and living.
Relatives of victims were offered a private tour on Saturday. They, as well as others, were visited earlier by private appointment. Catherine Violet Hubbard was one of the children killed in the shooting.
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It is a reminder of all the work that the community has done. She explained that the collective space was a place for reflection where people could come and be reminded of the healing love and compassion they have sought to bring to the world.
The memorial is perfect for honoring the day of the massacre, as it is a place of contemplation and reflection that really changed the country, said Hubbard, who is now executive director of the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary.
There is a town named Newtown, Conn. The names of the 20 first graders and six teachers who were killed a short away at Sandy Hook Elementary School were engraved on the flowers that floated counterclockwise in the memorial pool.
She said that seeing Catherine’s name and what has been created in honor of those that lost took her breath away. And the community. We all suffered because of Dec. 14.
The Sandy Hook School is visible from the memorial now that the leaves have fallen. The new school was built on the same property, but not in the same footprint as the old one, which was torn down after the shooting on Dec. 14, 2012.
Nelba Marquez-Greene, whose 6-year-old daughter, Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, died in the shooting, took to Twitter on Saturday to thank those who worked on the memorial planning for years.
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Several visitors declined to speak with the few reporters present Sunday. Some people talked about their thoughts but didn’t say their full names because they wanted the day to be about the victims. Every year the media come to town on the anniversary of the shooting, but many in the town are uneasy about it.
The Obama quote says he came to offer love and prayers to a nation. “I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts.
“I can only hope it helps for you to know that everyone in this land of ours is grieving with you and we are here for you as well,” the plaque reads.
Town voters approved $3.7 million for the cost of the memorial last year. Much of the cost was offset when the State Bond Commission approved giving the town $2.5 million for the project.
For Newtown First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, the town’s top elected official, the memorial is both a quiet and intense tribute to those killed in the shooting.
He said that when you are down at the water’s edge, it has a very peaceful serenity. There’s a water feature and the magnitude. It’s pretty overwhelming that there are 26 capstones on the water.