The Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission conducted a special meeting on Wednesday, February 15, at Town Hall South.

On the agenda for the hour long meeting was the Rock of Angels, the gifted memorial stone located behind St John's Episcopal Church on Washington Avenue, Sandy Hook.

Florida resident Richard Gray envisioned the memorial stone that features the names of the 20 children and six educators killed on 12/14, along with angels, hearts, and the words "Forever In Our Hearts... Always In Our Minds..." carved into the stone. The Rock of Angels was transported from Maine and installed at St John's August 12, 2013. Reportedly, there were approximately 100 people who came out to support the initial opening of the donated memorial.

With the church now closed, St John's has offered to donate the portion of its land where the monument is sited to the town. The Board of Selectmen asked the commission members to share their thoughts and decide if they would recommend the town accept the land and the memorial stone, with the idea that the commission would utilize the Rock of Angels in its planned permanent memorial. Members of the commission were asked to view the Rock of Angels prior to the meeting in order to help in making their decision.

Commission Chair Kyle Lyddy led the group in discussing the implications of accepting the Rock of Angels for the permanent memorial site and what the stone represents to community members.

Positive attributes of the memorial that were brought up were the fact that over the past few years many residents, including some commission members, have found that going to the Rock of Angels memorial is a tranquil place for reflection.

Commission member Alan Martin said he could see the Rock of Angels integrated into the permanent memorial site, perhaps as part of a pathway. He did acknowledge that he understands that even though the memorial stone could potentially be an asset, there may be families directly affected by 12/14 that do not want it there.

A concern that was discussed about the Rock of Angels was its religious component. The visual of angels in the memorial stone and the fact that it is currently located behind a church was a topic brought up, because a municipality cannot have religious connotations affiliated with its sites. Not only that, but not all of the families affected by 12/14 follow that specific faith or want the symbol of angels.

The design of the Rock of Angels was also put into question. Families directly affected by 12/14 were not contacted when the memorial was being created and the way the victim's names are inscribed may not be how the families want their loved ones remembered. Some family members wished they would have been consulted for input.

Commission member Agni Pavlidou Kyprianou looked for a solution to the first two concerns. She mentioned the idea of modifying the memorial stone to make it more neutral and spelling the names out in the way that the families wished.

Commission member Tricia Pinto, whose son Jack died on 12/14, spoke to the group from her perspective as a family member personally affected and asked, "If we don't take it, where does it go?"

Other commission members, including JoAnn Bacon whose daughter Charlotte was a victim on 12/14, echoed the sentiment asking what the town's direction would be if the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission did not take the Rock of Angels.

It was explained that if the commission wanted the Rock of Angels for its future permanent memorial site, the town offered to store it. However, if the commission did not find a use for the Rock of Angels, the town would most likely not take the memorial or the property at St John's.

Ms Pavlidou Kyprianou explained, "The town won't even touch the acquisition, the taking over of that piece of land. [The town] will walk away so the church will almost be penalized, because it did the good deed of accepting it and offering something to the community. Then at that point it will be up to the private owner of that land to do whatever he wants to do."

Ideas for bringing it to another church in or out of town were brought up, but not discussed in detail, because those decisions are not up to the commission. Its choice was whether or not the commission would vote to recommend the Board of Selectmen accept the Rock of Angels.

A final thought that was brought up was that the Rock of Angels may have had a great deal of importance placed upon it because there are no other memorials in town as of yet. It was a temporary memorial solution for the town, but when the commission's permanent memorial site is built, there will be an official place designed where everyone can go.

The commission's goal is to have one memorial location - a decision that was made during its Information Gathering Stage at the beginning of the process based on the feedback they got from community members.

Mr Lyddy started the motion to recommend to the Board of Selectmen that the town not accept the Rock of Angels - with the knowledge that ultimately the decision is that of the Board of Selectmen. The vote passed with one opposing vote.

Their discussion and feedback was composed in a letter to Newtown's First Selectman Pat Llodra. The statement included, "It is too early for this commission to make a decision on if this can, or would be appropriate, to be part of the one memorial currently being planned."

Organizations or private parties interested in having more information about the Rock of Angels or that are looking to share insight to suggest where it should be placed can contact the First Selectman's office at newtown-ct.gov/first-selectmans-office.

Looking Ahead For Funding

The Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission also began discussing their options for funding the permanent memorial, which will be located on a 6-acre property at 28 Riverside Road - known as SAC Field because of its old soccer and baseball fields - and an abutting .85-acre property at 32 Riverside Road.

Mr Lyddy explained that, as of now, the town will be taking ownership of the permanent memorial's selected land and will be in charge of future maintenance, but that if the commission chooses to become a 501(c)(3) at a later date, the town would be willing to transfer the site over to the commission. The town will be in charge of maintaining the site for the time being.

In February 2015, Mr Lyddy noted at a meeting of the commission that $80,000 of money received post-12/14 by the town had been set aside for the purpose of a permanent memorial. Newtown resident Paul Babbage identified himself as the chairman of the Atkinson Fund, at that time, and said that the fund had a "fair amount of money to contribute" toward a permanent memorial.

With the development of the SAC project in the beginning stages - i.e., creating the land deed for SAC field - members raised questions about the best ways to raise funds.

Along with being open to accepting private donations to go toward the creation of the permanent memorial, the commission said they want to look into additional options, too.

Mr Lyddy informed the group that commission member Donna Van Waalwijk is currently doing independent research creating a list of possible resources for their commission. He concluded that if anyone had any ideas regarding individuals or organizations that would be beneficial to helping the site, their contact information should be forwarded to Ms Van Waalwijk.

The next Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission public meeting will be conducted on Thursday, March 9. Questions for the commission can be sent to sandyhookpermanentmemorial@gmail.com.