Dozens attend candlelight vigil for overdose victims
About 40 people attended a candlelight vigil Thursday night at the overdose memorial downtown at the corner of North Main and East North streets.
The memorial, set up a couple weeks ago by a group of volunteers in the Worsley's lot, had 88 crosses adorned with wreaths, in memory of the 88 people who died of overdoses in the county this year.
The memorial started with 84 crosses, though more were added as the Butler County Coroner's Office confirmed more cases, said Georgette Fleeger, project manager.
Thursday night, Fleeger and County Commissioner Kevin Boozel said a few words and the Rev. John Pistorius of St. John Reformed Church in Chicora led a prayer and struck a triangle 88 times in recognition of each person lost.
The vigil lasted for about 30 minutes.
Boozel said it will be the combined efforts of everyone in the community to work toward reversing the trend of people being lost to drug addiction.
“That is a ridiculous number of people lost. We cannot continue to do this,” he said.
Volunteers planned to take the crosses down Friday morning.
