THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240355
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEWIS KRAUSKOPF, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 68 lines
With a mix of sorrow, concern and anger, parents and activists dedicated a memorial to the area's slain children.
In a ceremony at noon Wednesday, Rosewood Memorial Park unveiled a blue-and-yellow sign that will be replaced in four months by a granite ``Healing Wall,'' to be built in conjunction with Mothers Against Crime, the Norfolk group whose idea led to the memorial.
``We brought children into this world and we've got to do something to take a stand,'' said MAC member Doris Rasheed of Virginia Beach, whose nephew died from violence. ``Let us make our stand.''
On a bright, balmy day, roughly 25 people - MAC members, conspicuous by their signature red berets, religious figures, other community activists and officials with the cemetery - attended the dedication.
The Rev. Jim Prevette opened the half-hour ceremony flanked by mothers who had lost family members to violence.
``Everyone needs somebody to lean on,'' Prevette said. ``We thank (God) for this opportunity . . . to protect our children.''
The wall will carry a message beyond remembering lost loved ones, said Butch Gordon, a Hampton activist.
``We have to bear responsibility for the complacency in our community,'' he said. ``In one person, change can happen.''
Wednesday's ceremony was the first of a two-part dedication, the second to come at the end of February, when the wall is finished.
The site is at the entrance of the 70-acre cemetery, across from another memorial - to firemen, police and others killed in the line of duty - which Rosewood unveiled Memorial Day.
The cemetery decided to fund the project after reading about it in the newspaper and contacting MAC.
``We want the community to be able to reach out to us in a time of need,'' said Dennis Toler, a Rosewood family service counselor who is coordinating the project. ``What better place than a cemetery to serve the community?''
Plans call for a granite wall three feet high and four feet long with a six-foot-long base, Toler said - small enough so children can touch it and read the names. In addition to the names, birth year and death year of each child, ``The Healing Wall'' will be emblazoned across the memorial with the MAC motto: ``Compassion is just a touch away.'' MAC and Rosewood plan to put designs, such as an angel, on the wall as well.
``These are God's little angels,'' said Jacqueline McDonald, the founder of MAC. ``They took them away and didn't give them a chance to live. . . . We don't want these children to be forgotten.''
MAC has not abandoned its original idea of a similar memorial at Norfolk City Hall. That wall, which has private financial backing and awaits approval from the city, McDonald said, would include area murder victims of any age and deaths as far back as the mid-1980s.
The Rosewood wall - which will be for children 15 and under who have been killed - will memorialize more recent deaths. South Hampton Roads experienced six in 1995.
For McDonald, who has spent years mourning two sons who were shot, Wednesday's ceremony was a time for happiness and hope.
``These are tears of joy today,'' McDonald said. ``There are children out there who need our support.'' ILLUSTRATION: STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot
The Rev. Jim Prevette, left, prays at the ceremony with members of
Mothers Against Crime. The women in the front row, from left, are
Jacqueline McDonald, Linda Deemer, Doris Rasheed and Reggie Sands.
Behind them are Dennis Toler, of Rosewood Memorial Park, and Sheila
Joseph.
KEYWORDS: CHILDREN'S MEMORIAL VIOLENCE by CNB