Eight Years

 

Bronze and pottery.  These are the traditional gifts to commemorate an eighth anniversary.  They’re symbolic of the creation of something tougher; pottery from clay and Bronze from iron and copper.  Nothing, of course, can bring back the 19 brave men lost here on June 30, 2013, but our town has grown stronger even as we’ve lost our innocence.

 

Sunrise on the trail

The Yarnell Area Resource Group (YARG) asked that I photograph the plaques commemorating each fallen firefighter on the trail at Granite Mountain hotshot Memorial State Park. They used the images in the remembrance concert today. It’s June, of course, so I was up at 4:00 yesterday to I could hit the trail before sunrise. It’s a great hike, and I’m up there a lot.  It can be easy to forget the losses honored here, but this trip was a homage for me, stopping at each plaque to contemplate each man for a moment.  It was less acute than my first homage, photographing the coaches carrying remains from Phoenix back to Yavapai County, but no less heartfelt.

We’re still grateful here, and still mourning. We still think of life in two parts, “before” and “after.” Frequently the fire is still what we’re known for.

 

Terry Palmberg, Frances Lechner, and the news crew

Monday there was a surprise for Frances Lechner, a truly tireless local volunteer.  Frances was met at the new park by AZ CBS 5 news with the “Pay it Forward Award,” a $500 prize for extraordinary volunteerism.  Frances has worked in many areas in town, including the Yarnell Hill Recovery Group immediately after the fire, as well as the Community Garden, Regional Community Center, and Fire Auxiliary. Many friends were there to witness her recognition. The story is here.

 

The Park Dedication

This afternoon, our annual memorial event remembering the fallen was combined with a dedication of the park in Yarnell.  The Park has been a long time coming and we’re all very excited to see it complete.  The project has been completed in cooperation with Arizona State Parks. The design was created by the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.  One fundraising effort was the sale of decorative bricks.  I was pleased to see one we purchased to honor my dad in place there.

 

For the eighth year, the names of the fallen were read by Lew and Marcie Theokas, whose grandson was lost that day. A bell was rung after each name.  The slow and orderly listing brings to mind my walk on the trail yesterday, past the 19 plaques in turn, and of what a large number 19 is.

Bronze and pottery.

A few more of my posts about the fire are here:

After the Yarnell Hill Fire; the first eight days

Regrowth

Chicken Soup From Yarnell #1

Chicken Soup From Yarnell #2

Chicken Soup From Yarnell #3

Chicken Soup From Yarnell #4

Chicken Soup From Yarnell #5; Moving On

Anniversary