Document text
Alba Park becomes memorial focus Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Ginny Post of Central Point lays flowers in the gazebo at Alba Park in Medford Wednesday. The Rogue Valley Interfaith Relief Network obtained permission from the city to use the gazebo as a place for people to leave cards, flowers and other remembrances of those lost in Tuesday's terrorist attacks. By BILL VARBLE On an overcast Wednesday afternoon, the Rev. Paul Robinson tapes a simple sign to the gazebo at Alba Park saying, "In memory of the victims of terrorism." Next come folks with placards reading "remembrance," "hope," "justice" and "peace." Finally, bouquets of flowers are placed in the little structure. RIVERNet, the Rogue Valley Interfaith Relief Network, got the OK to use the gazebo in downtown Medford as a place for people to leave cards, flowers and other expressions of remembrance of Tuesday's terrorist attacks. RIVERNet was formed after the 1997 floods to fill in gaps in the fabric of relief services in the valley. Remembrance services set Several churches and other groups plan special services in remembrance of the victims of Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Here are a few; check with your church for more information. "Americans Supporting Each Other," 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 87 Fourth St., Ashland. Ecumenical service, Rogue Valley Interfaith Relief Network, noon Friday, gazebo at Alba Park, Medford. Labyrinth walk at 3 p.m. Sunday at EarthTeach Forest Park, at the nine-mile marker on Dead Indian Memorial Road, Ashland. Community members of all ages and faiths will gather for a candlelit pilgrimage to the labyrinth site accompanied by violinist Kendra Law. Rides to the labyrinth also will be available. Call 482-4572 for more information. An ecumenical service is planned for noon Friday at the gazebo. Robinson, the pastor of the Congregational Church of Medford, says the idea is to provide a public place for people to express their feelings. "We want to get the word out," he says. "It's a place for people to have an outlet. "We're all affected. We're all depressed. We're all angry. "We need a place of common expression for everybody in their own way to express depression, confusion, anger, disorientation." He mentions the site in front of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, where people spontaneously brought a mountain of toys after the bombing there, or the railing at Buckingham Palace in England after Princess Diana's death. "As the week goes along, people are going to realize they knew somebody who knew somebody," Robinson says. His wife's brother lost two close friends. "He was so angry he wanted to re-enlist and go into the service," Robinson says. Dan Portrait of Medford says a fellow member of Temple Emek Shalom of Ashland was told on her cell phone at a Tuesday night service that her niece's husband had been killed in the attacks. Robinson says Americans have lost the sense that they are exempt from the violence that erupts in the world. "It's right here," he says. "We'll never be the same again. It just hasn't sunk in yet." RIVERNet doesn't know how long the memorial will remain. Robinson likens it to the devotional songs his congregation sometimes sings with no set endings. "Sometimes we'll sing it twice, sometimes 10 times," he says. "The rule is that you sing it as long as somebody feels a need. "You begin to sense where the community is and how long we need to hang onto it. That's what this is about." Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.