Jayden Cho-Sargent’s mother, Kellie Foley, gets a hug from Lewiston Middle School Principal Jake Langlois in Sunnyside Park in Lewiston on Thursday. A public dedication was held for the memorial for her son, Jayden, who was struck and killed in a pedestrian crosswalk. Tina Hutchinson stands nearby.
The memorial plaque in Jayden’s Place in Lewiston’s Sunnyside Park depicts an image of Jayden Cho-Sargent.
LEWISTON — A ceremony Thursday evening unveiled the new, permanent memorial for Jayden Cho-Sargent, a Lewiston teen who was killed while crossing Main Street on Nov. 3, 2016.
Jayden’s Place is a garden inside Sunnyside Park that was put together by community and city efforts.
The raised garden bed with an engraved memorial stone and colorfully painted rocks has a new bench and lilac tree that was placed Thursday morning.
Family, friends and community members came Thursday to remember and celebrate Jayden.
City Administrator Ed Barrett said, “The memorial exists today because the community came together. I want to express my thanks to Bob Reed, Heidi Sawyer, Linda Scott, and the many others who gave their time and money to make this happen. The city is honored to have been able to help with this effort,” he said.
“I’m proud of the fact the city can respond when we see people in the community that are hurt trying to come together,” Barrett said. “There are times when the city had to take a lead to find solutions, there are other times, more rewarding times, when we can take a step back and simply support efforts of the community to do something. That’s what happened here, that’s one of the strengths of Lewiston.”
“It’s fitting to be in this park because Jayden lived near this park, and played in this park,” Barrett added.
Heidi Sawyer, a supporter in this effort, officially opened the memorial.
“Jayden’s Place is officially open,” she said. “This is a child’s memorial garden, this is a place to remember and celebrate his life, not mourn him.”
“It is your duty to live for this young man,” Sawyer said. “Inspire, be kind, laugh, love, care, do all the things that this little boy did every day of his life and keep making our community a great place to live, work and play.”
City Council President Kirsten Cloutier shared in the sentiments.
“The sense of community I see here, when there’s a concern, the community comes together to address it,” she said. “This is really a special thing for the family, and it’s very touching that you invited us all here to share it with you,” Cloutier said.
“Something tragic happened in this community and we all come together. The sense of community is what makes Lewiston such an amazing place to live. And the memorial itself is really beautiful,” Cloutier added.
Schools Superintendent Bill Webster said, “The city is special in the way it rallies around families in need. I want to thank Kellie (Foley, Sargent’s mother) and the family for allowing the schools to be a part of your grief and your healing.”
Lewiston Middle School Principal Jake Langlais announced Thursday that the school would be starting a scholarship for students going into high school, with support from Foley and the community.
“That’s Lewiston,” Sawyer said. “People don’t give us credit for that. Our community is strong. You just have to ask them to be there. If you ask and give them purpose they’ll be there. I do believe that’s the heart of our community.”
“That morning, of Jayden’s passing, I think everybody felt that. He became our child, it was everybody’s worst nightmare coming true, so of course they’re going to support it,” Sawyer said. “And that morning, when there was miscommunication with the pole (memorial) coming down, she felt safe to come to us to vent.”
“We knew it wasn’t debating whether the pole should come down,” Sawyer said. “It’s ‘What’s that final solution? What’s that permanent place you can go?’”
Robert Reed, the city’s financial adviser and supporter of the memorial, said the garden planning started the last week of March. “We started having discussions because they were asked to remove things from the telephone pole, and that was a miscommunication which is unfortunate, but that led us to say, ‘Let’s do something,'” he said.
“What’s the solution to the problem? And the solution to give Kellie a place, and the community, the students the teachers, everybody, a place to go remember him?” Sawyer said. “That spearheaded this conversation.”
They created a GoFundMe page for the memorial, and the city donated the large stone. A local business engraved it for free, and the logs around the garden were donated too, according to Sawyer.
“The city was incredibly helpful,” Reed said. “They gave us location choices, helped dig it out and prep the area, craned in the rock with their people and their time. City arborist Steve Merch helped with landscaping ideas, and the city donated the lilac tree as well.”
“When you think of a kid you think of growing and think of life, so a garden kind of makes perfect sense,” Sawyer said of the idea. ”And since he lived in this Sunnyside neighborhood and played down here, it fit.”
About the stones, she said, “You want bright and light and inspiring, but flowers don’t grow immediately.” So they painted rocks bright colors with inspirational words.
“It works,” Reed said. “It’s a child’s words, a child’s stone.”
“The last thing we wanted was for this to feel like a gravesite, so we looked at design and layout and kept that in mind, wanted it to be a memorial, not a grave,” Reed said.
“We had a private unveiling for the family Tuesday, which we thought was important,” Sawyer added. “This is an emotional time for the family and they deserve some privacy. Most people didn’t know Kellie before this, but now she’s become part of our family. Out of all this I think she’s found a home.”
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