CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and Saturday, April 9, close to 100 people gathered at Swan Lake Park for the 7th Annual Children’s Memorial Garden Remembrance Ceremony.
The garden is dedicated to the children of Clarksville-Montgomery County who have died due to violence inflicted upon them. The ceremony was attended by family and friends of victims as well as members of local law enforcement who work with cases of children who have been killed.
The ceremony is organized each year by the office of 19th Judicial District Attorney General, John Carney. Before the ceremony Carney talked about the event. “It’s something special, that you can’t really find nowhere else, this is a memorial service for all of those children who have lost their lives,” said Carney.
Carney added he was proud of the Children’s Memorial Garden and the families and their loved ones who attend the ceremony each year. There was also a musical performance, the reading of a poem and words from guest speaker Verna Wyatt, Executive Director of Tennessee Voices for Victims.
The names of the 64 children who have lost their lives to violence were read by Detective Lisa Reed with the Clarksville Police Department and Investigator Fred Smith of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
Following the reading of the names, 64 butterflies were released, one for each of the victims whose life has been lost and whose name appears on the memorial. Pinwheels, a symbol of child abuse prevention, surrounded the area of the memorial garden and will also be found in many areas of the city and county throughout the month of April.