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'It's beautiful': Bench honouring teens killed by drunk driver unveiled

It's a place to sit and reflect, say moms of  Jazmine Houle, Steven Phillippe and Caitlin Jelley
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Moms Lisa Jelley, Corrie Lamoureux and Jocelyne Philippe stand behind the granite bench that now sits at the memorial site for their children who were killed by a drunk driver in 2009. (Arron Pickard) 

It was bitterly cold on the afternoon of Nov. 21, but the mood was more than warm enough to face the icy temperatures for the official unveiling of a granite bench to honour Jazmine Houle, Steven Phillippe and Caitlin Jelley.

The bench, etched with images of each the teens, was installed at the memorial site in Hanmer where a permanent recognition sign will be displayed beside a garden and three crosses, reminding passersby of the tragedy that shook the community on Father’s Day, 2009.

The teens were hit and killed by drunk driver Nicholas Piovesan on June 21 that year. Piovesan served a seven-year sentence on three counts of causing death by criminal negligence. He was released from prison in 2015.

The granite bench was crafted by the Khouri family of Khouri Granite Ltd. It was paid for in part by donations from the Ravi family, Connie Houle and his wife, Gerry Lougheed Jr. and other donors who wish to remain anonymous.

“This bench not only provides a place to sit and reflect on what the loss of our children means, but also gives all visitors, forever, an opportunity to see images of the children we lost all those years ago,” said the mothers of all three kids in a joint statement. 

“Perhaps seeing their faces will move people to think about what they can do to prevent this from happening again.”

Lisa Jelley said the garden was already a beautiful location, and the addition of the new bench just adds to its richness.

“It's beautiful,” she said. “It started with Bela Ravi at our walk two years ago, and when we got here at the end of the walk, she thought it would be nice for people to have a place to sit and reflect. She started the ball rolling, and the fact people would do this for us, we can never express the amount of gratitude we feel.”
 


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Arron Pickard

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