Waukesha Remembers, Community Unveils Memorial 3 Years After Parade Tragedy

To commemorate the third anniversary of the Waukesha Christmas Parade disaster, which claimed six lives and injured several more, locals and the relatives of the victims came together on Thursday. At Grede Park, a memorial honoring the victims was unveiled. According to Spectrum News 1, the memorial features a 13-foot sculpture of a heart encircled by tiles made by the local community.

“This will be something to make sure that we have a reminder every year around this tragedy, and it impacted lots of lives in a very short period of time, not just those who died but many, many people,” Governor Tony Evers stated, as reported byWBAY. Flags throughout Wisconsin were lowered to half-staff in remembrance of the fallen.

Local companies have been crucial to the community’s recovery. During the attack, Burlap and Lace’s owner, Tami Evanoff, opened her business to provide shelter to parade participants and aid those who were hurt. Evanoff said to Spectrum News 1 that he was still working through some of that. The youngest parade victim, 8-year-old Jackson Sparks, is honored by a bench outside her store. Access to behavioral health therapies was made possible by a federal grant. According to Captain Dan Baumann, Officers transitioned from group sessions to one-on-one therapy gradually, and it’s now almost standard practice. According to Spectrum News 1, local organizations have pledged to provide ongoing help even if the grant is about to expire.

In order to recover, the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies have been utilizing therapy. Among those looking for assistance are group members Laura Thein and Sharon Millard. “I snapped. In an interview with WISN, Millard said, “I mean, I really fell apart.” The new memorial was officially opened Thursday at 4:39 p.m., precisely when the incident occurred. “I feel honored that they’re doing this for, to me, our family, for our friend,” Millard stated.

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