It's a heart-breaking anniversary. Ten years ago, on Father's Day 2009 — which fell on June 21 that year — three local teens lost their lives thanks to the actions of an impaired driver.
At around 12:40 a.m., Jazmine Houle, and her friend, Caitlin Jelley, both 15, got off a bus on the side of Highway 69 North in Hanmer.
There they met up with Steven Philippe, 16, who had gone to the bus stop to escort the girls home.
Shortly afterward, Nicolas Piovesan, who had been drinking at a Hanmer bar that evening, drove his car into the teens, who were walking along the side of the road, killing them.
Piovesan, then 27, did not stop until he crashed his vehicle into the side of a home. In 2010, he was sentenced to seven years in jail for three counts of criminal negligence causing death. He was released from prison in 2015.
The families of the three teens started the Impact 6/21 Foundation to campaign against drunk driving and honour their children's memories.
Over the years, they held several events, including a yearly memorial walk, but in 2018, the families decided to wrap up the operations of Impact 6/21.
"It has been difficult to grieve so publicly," said a release put out by the families at the time.
"Though we drew strength from the pain, we’ve also sacrificed our own healing to fight the social pandemic of impaired driving. It’s time for us to rest, too."
Although the tragedy happened a decade ago, there's now a memorial in place on the side of Highway 69 North in Hanmer, close to the site where the teens died.
