SouthShoreNow.ca

Sweet release...Kite celebration helped locals let go of Swissair sadness

Susan Corkum-Greek
Lighthouse staff

 KINGSBURG - More than 200 kites took to the air over Hirtle's Beach last week in a moment many described as one of sweet release.

 There never was an official start to the event, titled Kites in Memory. And unlike the official ceremonies at Peggy's Cove, Whalesback and Halifax, there were no family of the victims of Swissair Flight 111.

 Instead, in a spontaneous burst of energy, this crowd of children, parents and grandparents, most of whom had no particular connection to the tragedy, cast off the sadness that has hung over local communities for the past year.

 Martine Vermeulen, a summer resident of Queens County who organized the event after having a dream about it, admitted the big moment caught her off guard. "It was just so magical," she said of the scene as dozens of multi-coloured kites took off into a near-cloudless blue sky. "We could no longer contain all that energy."

 A short ceremony, originally planned to proceed the lift-off, had to be postponed until after most of the kites came down an hour later. But Ms Vermeulen said that didn't matter. "I think it may have been better that way."

 Ms Vermeulen said local residents needed an opportunity to let go of the Swissair tragedy. "Not that they will ever forget it," she said. "We'll still look at the sea and remember." However, this event was designed to be as much a celebration of life as a memorial.

 Children, many of whom had just completed their first day back at school, frolicked in the sand and waves alongside their parents and grandparents. And unlike the appropriately sombre official ceremonies in other locations, everyone here was smiling.

 That more positive focus was exactly what attracted Pat Pope, a Halifax resident who summers near Bridgewater, to the event. "When I first read about it in the paper I thought this is the one thing that's different, that everybody can take part in," she said.

 For Kathy Mossman of Lunenburg the event seemed "a nice gesture. I just thought that it's really nice what these people are doing . . . and I wanted to bring Bradley down," she said of her three-year-old grandson. "I don't think he necessarily understands it all but we've been talking about it."

 Monique Pook of Riverport also attended the event with her two daughters and mother-in-law, who is visiting from Germany. "We were so close to this when it happened," she explained. "We fly a lot and obviously have family in Germany."

 Mrs. Pook said the tragedy has definitely affected her family's life. Earlier this year, her youngest daughter, Vanessa, turned down a chance to go visit her grandparents in Germany because she didn't want to fly. While her eldest daughter, Alexandra, did go, she admits, "I had a hard time letting her. But I did," she said. "I think you have to."

 That is certainly the belief of Ms Vermeulen, who thinks "all the love and warmth" experienced during last week's ceremony will go a long way toward helping locals get on with their lives. "These people went to the stars and we have our kites to sort of remind us of that," she said.