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Crowd marches for overdose victims

Friends and family members of overdose victims gather Wednesday night to participate in a candlelight walk down Butler's Main Street. About 100 people from across Butler County participated in the event. The names of 183 overdose victims were read during a ceremony.

Grace @ Calvary Lutheran Church was packed with friends and family members of overdose victims Wednesday night, as about 100 people came together to participate in a candlelight walk down Butler’s Main Street.

The crowd, which came from across the county, gathered to hear remarks from pastor John Pistorius of St. John’s Reformed Church in Chicora before marching along Main Street to the Worsley’s Building.

Pistorius, who called himself a former addict, told victims’ friends and families that they were fighting against insidious opponents: shame and “spiritual forces of wickedness.”

“Shame is something that comes with addiction, and people are (scared) to ask for help,” he said. “There are lives that are affected from now to forever because of that. There are children who will never be born. Parents who will suffer.”

Charlene Eckert, one of the organizers of the event and a member of the Hope for Broken Hearts support group, read 183 names of overdose victims as a chime sounded. Eckert said there’s a dramatic need for more groups like hers across the county, as the opioid epidemic continues to claim lives.

“The need is huge. We need a lot of small groups all over the county,” Eckert said.

She said participating in a support group can help people cope with the loss of a loved one in general.

But because of the stigma and shame often associated with overdose deaths — in particular for heroin users — the groups can provide support that’s otherwise difficult to come by.

“It’s knowing that you’re not alone; knowing that someone understands what you’re going through and doesn’t judge you,” Eckert said. “We can’t fix the problem, but we’re here to help.”

One of the names read Wednesday was Chester Dietrich, a former Knoch High School student who overdosed on heroin in a Kmart bathroom at the age of 26.

Dietrich’s extended family attended Wednesday night’s event, with his young nieces and nephews carrying signs that read, among other things, “Your drug dealer killed my uncle” and “Every OD is someone’s son or daughter.”

One of Dietrich’s sisters, Brandi Spencer of Herman, said the family has struggled with finding closure since his death.

She said she’s never been able to find out how or why her brother started using heroin, and criticized the school district for not doing more to prevent drugs from making their way into students’ hands.

Spencer said events like the walk do help, however, and the family relishes the chance to speak out about heroin abuse and overdose deaths.

“I feel like if one son is saved; if one person sees and does something about it, then we did our job,” she said.

Dietrich’s story is his own, but it’s not unique. Families from across the county were in attendance Wednesday.

Some, like Brenda and Sheldy Cirrincione of Cabot, had lost multiple friends or loved ones in a short period of time.

Others, like Pam and Bob Walters of Slippery Rock, had lost an adult child to heroin.

The couple wore shirts memorializing their son, 32-year-old Robert lee Vollmer, and said they wanted to do their part to raise awareness of the issue and reach out to people struggling with addiction.

“I’m just hoping it reaches one of these kids and they go the right direction,” said Pam Walters.

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