Benches at Zelie park dedicated to 2 boys
ZELIENOPLE — The families of two young boys who were killed in an accident in January want people to come out with their children to enjoy time together at the Zelienople Community Park.
Two benches have been installed at the park and a table will be added soon to encourage families to sit down together.
“I hope people can come down, enjoy the park and have lunch,” said Elisabeth McCullough of Harmony, the mother of the two boys.
The plaques inscribed on the blue and green benches read: Always in Our Hearts for Declan McCullough and Liam Bintrim-Hall.
The two boys were killed in a one-vehicle accident on a rainy January day in Connoquenessing.
The families of the two boys, Elisabeth and Jason McCullough and Will Hall and his girlfriend Samantha Merrison, talked Thursday morning about the support of the community and the benches that memorialize their late children.
The outpouring of support has been overwhelming to both families. They wanted to thank everyone who has helped them.
A quick and unexpected onset of icy roads was to blame for the one-vehicle crash on Lower Harmony Road that killed the brothers on the morning of Jan. 9.
Both 3-year-old Liam Bintrim-Hall and Declan McCullough, who was nearly 1, died of head injuries.
State police said there was nothing that Elisabeth McCullough could have done as her Dodge Durango slid on the icy road and overturned. Both children were in child safety seats.
“When people heard about the accident, everyone was just heartbroken. Even people that didn’t know the families and people wanted to help,” said Alecia Flood, Zelienople’s parks director.
Keystone Ridge Designs of Butler provided the benches. Flood said when the owner learned who the benches were memorializing, he donated one of the benches, which enabled the purchase of the table.
The community, family and friends all have contributed to help the family since the accident.
With the urging of his friend, Hall has taken up golf as a therapeutic activity since the accident. His late son Liam also liked to go outdoors.
“I think about him a lot when I’m golfing,” he said.
“What’s helped has been both families have been able to laugh together. We share stories and memories,” said Hall.
“But we still have our sad moments,” said Jason McCullough, who added that sharing memories of the boys with each other has helped to ease some of the pain.
The accident also affected a lot of the police, fire and EMS crews who responded that day.
Elisabeth and her husband went to their stations to personally thank them for their efforts and to give them pictures of their children in happier times.
“I didn’t want them have the memory of that day of the boys. I wanted them to have a picture of them in happier times,” she said.
