A new memorial courtyard, amphitheater celebrates late student's life
May 23, 2004
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Top, art teacher Cheré Fox-O'Reilly and Hand and Spirit's Al Hedstrom gather with West Monona students around one of the tables they designed in memory of their late classmate, Andrew Merritt. (Photo by Jody Ewing) |
ONAWA,
Iowa -- Students and faculty at West Monona High School will never
forget Andrew Merritt. The spirited 17-year-old loved hunting, fishing,
soccer and baseball, but most of all the outdoors.
When he died
July 5, 2003 from injuries suffered in an automobile accident, grieving
friends and family joined together at an overflowing church memorial
service that barely left standing room.
Their love for a young
man who treasured the earth and sky will now live on through future
generations in a new memorial courtyard and amphitheater being built at
the school where Andrew would have graduated today.
Nearly
150 students, faculty, friends and family members turned out Friday for
a dedication ceremony for the partially finished project.
Located
on the school's northwest side, the courtyard consists of six concrete
tables embedded with tile mosaics, a hand-designed birdbath and a
statue of two cherubs crowned by an arch -- all delivered and put into
place within the past seven days. The concrete amphitheater is being
constructed on the courtyard's north side. Hand-made bricks engraved by
seniors lay before the cherubs in a loving tribute to their departed
classmate.
For the casting of tables and statues, Richard and
Petrina contacted Denison resident Al Hedstrom, owner of "Hand and
Spirit, Inc.," a cast stone and architectural pre-cast business located
in Onawa. The couple had ordered a table from him after their son's
death and asked if he'd work with Andrews's classmates on customizing
the tables. Though Hedstrom never had embedded tiled mosaics before, he
agreed to work with the students.
Under the direction of art
teacher Cheré Fox-O'Reilly, they drew separate mosaics for each
table
with themes reflecting Andrew's life. They finished the drawings within
three weeks and took turns working with Hedstrom on color for moldings
and putting the mosaics in place. They were able to complete one table
each day.
"The art kids would tape the design in the bottom of
the mold with double-sided sticky tape," Hedstrom said in an emotional
address to Friday's crowd. "I had so much fun working with the kids. I
don't know why I'm crying."
As a personal gift to Andrew -- known
as "Big A" to his friends -- Hedstrom made and donated the birdbath
with
a big blue "A" on the bottom.
The tables will require a bit more
sanding and then be resealed to give students a fine writing surface.
In minute ceramic tiles embedded in the center, one table depicts
Andrew's love of hunting with pictures of a deer, duck and pheasant.
Another shows the sun, earth, a river, wind and water in a testament to
his love for the outdoors. A game table includes Andrew's date of birth
and another has zodiac signs for the planets.
"The one with the
earth, sun and river took the most work because of the colors and the
ceramic pieces were so small," says junior Wendi Kluver. "It also was
hard because [those symbols] held the most meaning for him."
The
work done by hand is fitting, says Merritt, a Monona County supervisor,
since Andrew loved to work with his hands and already had a hand in the
family business, Merritts Pumping Service and Portable Restrooms.
"Andrew's
favorite saying was, 'If you find our port-a-pots clean it's because we
had a hand in it,'" Merritt says. "He had planned to take over the
business."
Andrews's brother Rich works in human relations in
Boston, and brother Chris, still at home, plans to attend Western Iowa
Tech. Sister Misti Gigaroa attended nursing school and plans to become
an R.N. Chris and Misti attended Friday's event though Rich was unable
to make it.
Also present was Andrew's best friend Gabriel Moore,
a passenger in the vehicle who survived but required extensive
hospitalization, and who also still works in the Merritt family
business.
"Gabe is doing very well now," said his father Todd
Moore of Onawa. "For quite a while he suffered over this, but he had a
lot of support at the house."
"The class of 2004 did the cherub
and it says 'Friends Forever,'" said Petrina, whose co-workers from
Sioux City's 185th civil engineering unit also helped with part of the
work. "I think that sums up the students' commitment to this project,
that they will be friends forever."
Petrina's sister, Jackie
Phipps, traveled from Minneapolis with her children and a family friend
in order to attend the dedication.
"In looking at all of this,
it restores your faith in humanity," Phipps said of the students' hard
work. "It gives us hope for this next generation."
Student Celina Carpenter said that working on the tables, "taught us a
lot about ourselves."
"Toward
the end it became more real," said the West Monona senior. "We got in
touch with the idea that it wasn't just supposed to be fun, but be done
how [Andrew] would have liked it."
High school principal LuAnn
Richardson expressed her gratitude for what Richard and Petrina have
done for both the school and the community.
"Today is a time to
focus on celebrations," Richardson said. "It's springtime and a time
for new beginnings. This is a celebration of Andrew's life, and a
celebration of a facility that will be used for many years."
As
they addressed the crowd together, Richard and Petrina thanked the
community for all they'd done and for the unwavering support from
family and friends that helped them get through the past year.
"This has been a tough year for us," said Petrina. "The kids have
helped us get through a very difficult time."
Richard challenged both students and teachers to use the facility and
have fun.
"Watching
all the kids working was like watching ants running around here," he
said. "But we don't just want to remember Andrew. We need to remember
other kids we've lost, too. We want that to go on."
While high
school seniors and faculty held big green balloons stating "Class of
2004," the crowd grew quiet as the song, "Angels Among Us" filled the
warm morning air. When the song finished, students and staff released
their balloons.
As his eyes followed them into the sky, Richard smiled and said, "As
Andrew would say, 'let's have fun now.'"
Copyright ©
2005 Sioux City Journal
May 23, 2004