A “Chatham Strong” banner hung on the fence of the local high school.
You expect to see the signs after a bombing or a school shooting or a natural disaster. But you don’t expect to see them in your own small town: “Chatham Strong” with its red ribbon has joined Boston, Uvalde, and Highland Park in declaring strength after tragedy. Perhaps it’s a plea more than a declaration, because this is one of those places where people would say, “It could never happen here.”
But it did.
In our case, it’s not the malicious act of terrorists, but by current reports a terrible accident that claimed four young lives at an afterschool program, as an SUV drove through a fence and then through the building. Chatham Baptist Church, across the street from the YNOT facility (Youth Needing Other Things) rallied quickly and opened their building as a reunification center for children and parents who rushed to the scene to see if their baby survived.
Church staff assisted with the reunification process and counseled traumatized families. For Pastor Ahron Cooney, it was a living example of the church being strong for its neighbors. “It was amazing to see how the Chatham Baptist Church family and community rallied together and show love and compassion in such a terrible situation,” he said.
Almost immediately the red ribbons started popping up, first on Facebook accounts, then on LED signs in front of the bank, the dentist’s office, and adjacent to the funeral home. They’re tied on mailboxes and lampposts and telephone poles. Now the customary floral memorials are popping up, at the crash site and at the high school a couple of blocks away.
One of those killed was high school senior Rylee Britton, who worked at the afterschool program. Large photos of all the graduates are hung on the fence in front Glenwood High School each spring. Hers is framed with daisies and roses. The other three girls, Ainsley Johnson, age 8, Kathryn Corley and Alma Buhnerkempe, both age 7, are being remembered with signs and floral memorials at the places they were known, including a local dance studio.
All this seems incongruous with our small-town atmosphere, and a bit jarring for the neighborhood of split-levels and ranch homes surrounding the scene that was roped off with yellow police tape on Monday. But the town and the churches have rallied with candlelight vigils and grief counseling for mourners. The evening after the fatal incident, they gathered in the village square wearing red and holding electric candles.
“It’s the definition of what Chatham is,” Village President Dave Kimsey told several hundred people standing there. “To those that are suffering and still fighting, it’s a visual reminder that we’re here for you.”
Grieving students and parents and neighbors are expected tonight at the stadium adjacent to the high school for a student-led ceremony. Pastors, including Cooney, will be on hand as a community tries to understand the unexplainable. They’re hoping for opportunity to offer counsel that will make this hurting community not just “Chatham strong” but stronger in faith in Jesus Christ.
–Eric Reed in Chatham