Bathurst Phantoms Forever - And Other Touching Commemorations
As I pen these words -the cyber equivalent of penning them anyhow- they are holding a touching and fitting commemorative basketball MARATHON in Bathurst, N.B.
Or on the University of New Brunswick's Fredericton campus, rather. It is playing host to a very special basketball marathon this weekend indeed. The object of the entire entreprise is to raise funds for the Boys in Red Trust Fund, which was set up after seven members of the Bathurst High School men's basketball team (the Phantoms) and a teacher were killed in a tragic automobile accident in January. Several teams of youths are relaying each other to take the court and play basketball for a whole 24 hour period, to honor the 7 who departed this world last month, in that tragic road accident.
What a great idea - and what an ideal way to deal with grief.
Those young men who found it difficult to cope with the loss of their friends, which was indeed so sudden, can inject all of their energy into this tournament and pay homage to their friends by doing what they all loved best of all.
One could imagine a basketball version of "A Field Of Dreams" here - but perhaps that is too much of a stretch here.
The seven -and their teacher- who perished too soon will be smiling upon this endeavour - wherever they are.
==================================
Meanwhile, at the St-Martin parish, Laval, they held a very emotional celebration to honor the mother and four children of the ultimately doomed Ferrari-Veillette family. Their ashes were laid into the ground as well as various other objects brought by tearful relatives still in shock and disbelief over what happened to the five, in Ohio. The Ferrari family and the Veillette family, united in grief, released doves into the atmosphere symbolically. A snowstorm had just left a good accumulation in its wake but the sun was shining the day of the funeral - fittingly.
I commend the bereft family on bringing the remains to St-Martin for proper burial - Ohio was not where their roots were.
And St-Martin happens to be the parish where I was baptized too - it is a fine remainder of the Catholic faith in North America and I am proud of that fact.
May the four cherubims and their martyred mother rest in peace now.
==================================
Elsewhere, a father was brought inside an ambulance to the funeral of his daughters. There was no other way to allow Christopher Pauchay to be brought in to the Yellow Quill reserve in Saskatchewan, where the sad memorial event took place. He and Tracey Jimmy could then say their proper goodbyes to their two daughters, who just died days ago, frozen to death.
Kaydance and Santana Pauchay froze to death earlier this week. Their father, Christopher, is still being treated in hospital "for the frostbite and hypothermia he suffered the night his daughters, aged 3 and 1, died."
Details are "sketchy" about how the three of them wound up overexposed to the elements like this; all that can be said at this time is that a tragic accident took place and the two innocents are no more.
Tracey Jimmy is awaiting another child though - birth is scheduled for April, luckily.
Even in Saskatchewan, I believe spring has sprung by then...
Rest in peace, Kaydance & Santana
+++
Labels: Bathurst, commemorative, funerals
posted by Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ @ 4:36 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Web results
Tears and laughter, basketball marathon tribute to the ‘Boys in Red’
Tears and laughter, basketball marathon tribute to the 'Boys in Red' ... Her cousin, Justin Cormier, played for the Bathurst High School men's basketball ...
www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=f4f3de8f-5cb1-4e68-87f6-df5f706d0458&k=91655
Basketball marathon to raise funds
The marathon will include two UNB varsity games, and the first and last hour of the basketball-a-thon are reserved for Bathurst High School alumni. ...
www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/story.html?id=67f67918-0e6d-4d6d-9f66-7e3fbffcb965 - 62k
BASKETBALL MARATHON: Dominic Blakely, left, and Bathurst native Brian Schryer talk about their plans for UNB for the Boys in Red 24 Hours of Basketball this week-end...
dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/cityregion/article/198396 - 36k -
...
Hundreds remember Que. family who died in Ohio
Updated
Sat. Feb. 2 2008 8:33 PM ET
CTV.ca News
Friends and relatives of Nadya Ferrari-Veillette and her four children said an emotional goodbye during a funeral service for the family in Laval, Quebec.
The family died in a house fire in Mason, Ohio, near Cincinnati last month. Police there allege that Ferrari-Veillette's husband, Michel Veillette, killed his family. They've accused Veillette, a Montreal native, of stabbing his wife and then using gas to set the house on fire. The children died of smoke inhalation.
Friends who packed into church for the family's funeral remembered Ferrari-Veillette, 33, as a mother devoted completely to her children. Sobbing and having difficulty getting her words out, her mother spoke to her dead daughter.
"You've accomplished your role as a mother," Monique Ferrari said.
"You've surpassed yourself. There are now four more stars shining in the sky. I love you so much."
Ferrari-Veillette's brother spoke to those in attendance.
"I don't know if I ever told her, but I am so proud of her. Nadya, I love you. I hope I was a good brother," said Patrick Ferrari.
Outside Veillette's family and the Ferrari family came together, united in tragedy. Michel Veillette's sister and Nadya's mother released doves.
Ferrari-Veillette's cousin said the families are not thinking about blame. Instead, they are sharing their grief.
"Everybody is suffering right now, everybody has mourning to do,'' said Julie Journault.
"The family is staying close.''
Nadya Ferrari was a good person, a good mother and did not deserve what happened to her, said her little cousin in French. He added, I always wanted to be like her.
Investigators in Ohio have charged Veillette with murder and arson in connection with the deaths of his family members. He's being held without bond and faces the death penalty if convicted.
An Ohio newspaper has reported that Veillette has told investigators that he's innocent. He has apparently said that Ferrari-Veillette started the fire after attacking him with a frying pan and knife. He said the pair were fighting about money and an extra-marital affair, and he had told his wife that he was leaving.
He said during the couple's fight, he noticed the fire and he saw a gas canister at the couple's bedroom door. He said he tried to save his children, but couldn't because the smoke was too intense. He then jumped out through the bedroom window into their yard.
The couple's two-year-old twins, Mia and Jacob, their four-year-old son, Vincent, and Marguerite, their eight-year-old daughter, all died in the fire.
CTV News has reported that an investigation team from Ohio will go to Quebec as part of their probe.
With files from CTV Montreal's Daniele Hamamdjian and The Canadian Press
+++
Father brought to girls' funeral in ambulance
Updated
Sat. Feb. 2 2008 2:15 PM ET
The Canadian Press
YELLOW QUILL RESERVE, Sask. -- A steady stream of cars pulled up to the hall on the Yellow Quill reserve Saturday morning as residents gathered to say goodbye to Kaydance and Santana Pauchay, two tiny residents who froze to death earlier this week.
Among the mourners was the girls' father, Christopher Pauchay, who arrived in an ambulance. He is still being treated in hospital for the frostbite and hypothermia he suffered the night his daughters, aged 3 and 1, died.
Details remain sketchy, but family members have said they believe Pauchay might have been seeking medical help for the one of the girls and intended to walk a short distance to another home when he took them out wearing light clothing early Tuesday morning. They've also said he had been drinking that night.
The memorial service was private, and RCMP officers were stationed at the reserve entrance to enforce a media ban imposed by Chief Robert Whitehead at the request of family and the band's elders.
Speaking to reporters as he left the memorial reception, Pauchay's brother Gary said both parents have been devastated by the tragedy.
He says Tracey Jimmy, the girls' mother, is expecting another child in April.
"The parents are really sad.''
His brother hasn't told him much about what happened that night, Pauchay said.
"He just stares at me.''
He couldn't speculate on Christopher's recovery, other than to say, "He'll walk.''
When reporters noticed an open bottle on the console of his car and asked how he was coping, Pauchay said simply, "having a beer.''
+++
Post a Comment
<< Home