DIXFIELD — The memory of the loss of their brother and cousin is still fresh in their minds and can easily bring one of them to tears.
The Thibodeau family is working on a project to buy a customized bench to place at Dirigo High School in memory of Tyla J. Thibodeau, 15, of Dixfield.
Tyla died Aug. 11, 2013, in Carthage when a coil of rope he was carrying around his neck got caught in the chain of the motorized mini-motorcycle he was riding. The accident broke Thibodeau’s neck, his grandmother, Gerry Thibodeau of Dixfield, previously said.
Tyla’s cousin, Abby Thibodeau, 10, also of Dixfield, came up with an idea to help raise funds for the concrete bench.
She saw people around the Dirigo Elementary School wearing bracelets and thought they would be good to make and sell. She didn’t know how to make them, so she asked her cousin, Autumn Thibodeau, 11, Tyla’s sister, to teach her.
They used a FunLoom and brightly colored elastic bands to make bracelets to sell to help raise money for the bench. There are many varieties of bands, including some that glow in the dark and others that are scented. The bracelets are packaged in a plastic bag that includes a photo of Tyla.
Gerry Thibodeau, the children’s grandmother, said every time she makes a bracelet she thinks of Tyla.
“It’s been tough, but this is helping us through it,” she said.
Tyla’s older sister, Ashlie Thibodeau, and other family members have pitched in to help raise money for the bench.
They are $200 short of the $1,595 required, Gerry said. Custom Memorial Designs in Portland knocked off $700 from the $2,295 price once the company knew what the bench was for, she said. They held a bracelet sale and bake sale on April 5 at Adams Variety that raised $550.
People were generous, and many donated more than the $1 or $2 for the bracelet, depending on the style, or the cost of baked goods, Gerry said. Anyone who wants a bracelet can call her at 562-1009.
The family is having a second fundraiser from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 31 at the Mexico Bottle Depot on Route 2 in Mexico. Bracelets will be sold, as well as some baked goods and 50/50 raffle tickets. An afghan also will be raffled off, she said.
Once they raise the $200 to get the bench, it will be customized with a photo of Tyla, a piece of his artwork, and the words “When you sit here and think of me, please know I’ll be smiling down on you.”
The bench will be installed at the Dixfield school on Sept. 13, Tyla’s birthday.
The family is also raising money to get metal supplies for a second bench to be made by students at Region 9 Applied School of Technology in Mexico. The bench will stay at that school, a place Tyla enjoyed, Gerry said.
The family has made more than 100 bracelets for the initiative.
Making the bracelets can be hard when you start out, Autumn said, but once you get going, it becomes easier.
“It is going to be a huge accomplishment,” Abby said about raising the money and getting the bench.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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- The late Tyla Thibodeau’s sister, Autumn Thibodeau, 11, left, and cousin, Abby Thibodeau, 10, both of Dixfield, hold a picture of Tyla and display some of the homemade bracelets the family is making to buy a customized bench in his memory. The bench will be placed at Dirigo High School in Dixfield on Sept. 13, the birthday of the 15-year-old who died in a tragic accident in Carthage in 2013.
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