Published: November 02, 2006 01:54 am      

New memorial garden to be dedicated

Recognizing those who have lost their lives to acts of violence

CLARKSBURG — Families and friends of murder victims will have a public memorial to their lost ones when a new memorial garden is dedicated here Saturday afternoon.

The simple memorial — a polished granite bench and 17 stone markers on a hillside at the popular Veterans Park — is the idea of the North Central West Virginia Chapter of Parents of Murdered Children (POMC).

“We’re dedicating this memorial garden in memory of those who have lost their lives to violence,” said Marianne Laverdierre, president of the nonprofit chapter. Based in Nutter Fort, the chapter is the only one in the state.

Sandi Jaynes, victims services manager for the state Corrections Department, and Gail Sherwood, a victim awareness coordinator in the U.S. Justice Department, will speak at the 2 p.m. event.

Scott Sears, the regional representative for Gov. Joe Manchin III, will also be a speaker, Laverdierre said.

The Clarksburg Park Board provided the space for the garden. Local businesses and individuals then donated money for the memorial stones and the bench.

A pair of red ornamental maples now flanks the site. The park’s heavily used walking trail and the West Fork River are visible from it.

Laverdierre, of Stonewood, is the mother of Krystal Lee Peterson. Peterson, then 18, was just about to begin her freshman year at Fairmont State University when she was gunned down on Aug. 10, 2005, outside an apartment house on Locust Avenue.

Laverdierre started the POMC chapter in January. Membership is open to anyone who has lost a relative or loved one to violence, not just parents, she said.

A family who recently moved to the area from New York gave their permission to add the name of one of their relatives, she said. In that case, the victim was the husband’s sister.

Relatives have to provide legal permission before a victim’s names can be displayed in public, Laverdierre said.

The annual memorial ceremonies for the victims of the 9/11 attacks inspired her to seek a public memorial garden in this part of the state.

“The victims of 9/11 were murdered, too. They were victims of violence,” she said.

“I thought it would be good if we had a place where a victim’s family and friends could go to speak their names in public” to remind society of the toll wreaked by violence.

The local chapter is also supporting the national POMC’s effort to get Sept. 25 recognized by Congress as a National Day of Remembrance for murder victims.

“We’re going to have a candlelight vigil every Sept. 25 here,” Laverdierre said.

For more information about the local chapter, call 641-0668 or write: POMC, P.O. Box 8015, Nutter Fort, WV 26302.

Information about the national organization is available on-line at: www.pomc.org.

E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.