Hana St. Juliana Memorial Garden should be ready by spring

By Don Rush

The rain held off just long enough Sunday afternoon for the official groundbreaking of the Hana St. Julian Memorial Garden at Seymour Lake Township Park in Oxford Township

Hundreds of people gathered under the Davis Family Farmers Market pavilion for another chance for remembering Hana, who was 14 when she and three classmates at Oxford High School lost their lives in a mass shooting on Nov. 30, 2021. With purple and lavender colored balloon decorations, there were smiles, hugs, laughter and tears as the community listened to family members and others who made the garden a reality. Two groups, the Meijers 197 Oxford Team Members and IBEW Local 58, also presented checks of $10 thousand and $20 thousand respectively to the Hana St. Juliana Memorial Fund.

The day started at 1 p.m., by turning the Davis Family Farmers Market Pavilion into Hana’s Blooms market with vendors, donating a portion of their proceeds to the Hana St. Juliana Fund. Those vendors participating include Kai Kreations, Joy Unique Gifts, Ke Ke’s Cupcakery, Hana Memorial Wear, Lolo & Button’s Cotton Candy, Nature & Nurture Chocolates, Papa’s Kitchen—Salad Dressing Company, Earring Boutique, CJ’s Honey and Wee Bean Coffee Truck. While people shopped for an hour, two Oxford High School students, Kyle DiMalanta and Kate Watson, played music on their chelo and violin, respectively.

At 2 p.m. emcee Jennifer Curtis thanked everyone and introduced the guest speakers.

First up was Chris Nordstrom from the planning company of Carlise and Wortman. Nordstrom was the landscape planner for the project.

“There’s going to come a time in your life when you’re going to have an experience that will stay with you forever . . . it could be something positive, like the birth of my son, or getting married to my wife. It could be something negative like, 9-11 or, Nov. 3rd, 2021,” Nordstrom said, with his voice breaking with emotion at the mention of the mass shooting date. “The date I want to talk about is the day when I met Ai and Steve (Hana’s parents) and Reina for the first time. We met here on site and when we were within 10 feet of the site, I lost it. It was the first time I realized the importance of this park and what this is going to mean to the family and community – and to Tate’s family, Justin’s family, and Madysin’s family – it just made me think of the importance of this garden . . . I I hope this garden works as a reminder to people that we can come together. We can work together and we can make some changes and make a difference.”

Garden designer Katherine DeKrey from the Smith Group said the garden will honor Hana and the three others students who died, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre and Justin Shilling. She said the design was based on those things Hana enjoyed and what made each child lost special. Lavender plants, cherry trees and a purple wisteria vine will be planted.

The endowment for the Hana St. Juliana Memorial Fund are handled by the Four County Community Foundation. Foundation Executive Director Kathy Dickens said the endowment will not only help the building of the fund, but will also provide funding for maintenance and future projects. “I didn’t have the honor or privilege of meeting her in person, but I feel that I have met her through meeting her family and people in the community. I believe what they are showing me is that she stood for love, compassion, helping others, at times above self and in her memory this garden will be built and that the St. Juliana family felt compelled to reach out to reach out to the other families whose children were taken in this tragedy, let’s involve elements that reflect them and their memory and legacy.”

Then the two donations from Meijer and the electrical union were presented.

Before the ground breaking, Hana’s sister Reina and her father also made brief statements.

Reina, speaking from the heart and reading from paper, said, “If I could remember every detail, memory and laugh of Hana’s I would . . . she was just always sharing, whether with her smile, humor or sarcasm, kindness or eccentric ideas there was never a dull moment. She was the glue of our family. She was always paying attention to small details of everyone around her. I think that is how she made everyone around her feel so special. Her love was so unconditional you could never question it. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of her .. . we wanted to make a space to share the life and the light she brought to our lives to share with you. This garden is to remember Hana but also, Justin, Tate and Madisyn as well. It has grown into something much more than we thought from the love and support from friends and community members. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.”

Hana’s father, Steve, emotionally closed out the speaking with a few words. “I will keep this brief. I made Reina go first, because I knew she would say most everything Ai and I wanted to say. I just wanted to say thank you. To everybody, the community . . . to everybody who helped bring this vision to life. Today’s groundbreaking is a milestone in this project. We are looking forward to this spring to have a grand opening late in spring and have you all back to see the finished project.

After the family and members who spoke went out for the ceremonial groundbreaking with shovels.

The garden will represent the first project of the Hana St. Juliana Memorial Fund, held and administered by Four County Community Foundation. The fund’s intent is to remember and celebrate the lives of the Oxford High School shooting victims and support initiatives that can prevent a similar tragedy in the future. Donations to the fund will be directed towards immediate projects, including the garden. Once those initial projects are completed, any remaining funds will go into an endowment for the purpose of maintaining the garden and facilitating healing and prevention programs.

For more information on, or how to donate to the Hana St. Julian Memorial Fund visit their website, HanaMemorialFund.com or contact Four County Community Foundation Executive Director Kathy Dickens at kdickens@4ccf.org. More information about the garden, including renderings, can be found at hanamemorialfund.com.

Photos by D. Rush