All of the families and scores of friends gathered at St. Anne
and St. Patrick Parish off Route 20 for the dedication of the
country’s 73rd Angel of Hope statue. It’s the state’s second statue;
the other is in Easthampton.
The statue is for bereaved families and friends to visit, reflect
and seek inner peace, according to the event’s program.
About 2,300 bricks, most of them blank and some with the names
of deceased children, were placed in a walkway around the statue.
Ms. Bilodeau and many others have raised about $40,000 for the
angel statue, as well as for its surrounding landscape. They will
continue to raise money for maintaining it, she said.
The grieving families are welcome at the nondenominational shrine
“all the time,” said St. Anne-St. Patrick’s Rev. Peter R. Precourt
before delivering the dedication prayer.
“While this monument holds no small body …, no grave anywhere
holds a child, for indeed all children live,” he said in prayer.
The reverend said the monument served as a reminder “to all, to
cherish the brief time we share together as fellow passengers
to the grave.”
At a reception later in the evening at LaSalle Reception Center
at Notre Dame Church in Southbridge, Maureen E. Lemieux said the
event was a wonderful memorial to her granddaughter, Holly Piirainen,
who was 10 years old when she was abducted in Sturbridge on Aug.
5, 1993. Her remains were found more than two months later by
hunters in Brimfield. Her killer has not been caught.
“It’s something to commemorate her life — the fact that she’s
our angel,” the Grafton resident said, adding the event was very
emotional, despite the time that has passed.
“After 14 years, you think you’ve pretty much cried everything
you’re gonna cry, and then you see all these people in the same
boat that you are — it’s just kind of a heart-wrenching ceremony,”
Ms. Lemieux said.
Holly’s inclusion in the ceremony came through the efforts of
Christine J. Bourbeau, a parishioner at St. Anne’s, and Ms. Bourbeau’s
employer, Sterling Engineer of Sturbridge. They raised the money
to donate the stone in Holly’s memory, Ms. Lemieux said.
It wasn’t the only display of selflessness. Earlier in the day,
David Green gave Rev. Precourt $1,000 for fencing around the monument.
The funds had been raised from the second annual Ride for Randi
held yesterday morning in Hardwick.
Randi Lee Swistak-Stelmokas, 24, died two years ago from injuries
suffered when she was thrown from her horse, Randi’s mother, Mary
Ann Swistak, said at the reception.
The monies from the ride were also for a trust fund for Randi’s
daughter, Morgan, now 3, Ms. Swistak said.
She referred to Ms. Bilodeau’s exhaustive efforts to bring the
Angel of Hope to the Sturbridge area as “our gift.”
Ms. Bilodeau said that her reward has been focusing on other people.
“It’s been a difficult journey at times, but honestly I wouldn’t
trade it. It’s well worth everything,” she said.
A candlelight vigil at the monument will be held at 7 p.m. Dec.
6.
Families and friends brought flowers to lay
at the statue. (T&G Staff Photos / MARK C. IDE)
Families who want to have their deceased child's
name on a brick in time for the vigil may contact the Web site
with information by Oct. 15, Ms. Bilodeau said. The engraved pavers
cost $100 and are available for purchase on the Web site, www.theangelofhope.org
For more information, contact Linda Bilodeau at (508) 842-6001
or by an e-mail to daisy0909@aol.com
or send an e-mail to Sylvia Gaumond at jurwithme@charter.net
Priscilla Beatty of Northboro, whose daughter,
Dawn Collins, died of illness in 2002, listens to the dedication
ceremony.
Katie Broman gets a hug from her uncle, Richard Caron, whose
daughter was one of four teenagers killed in a car crash in Leicester
earlier this year.
