A friend said it was the kind of day the girls would have enjoyed. The fields behind Elphinstone Secondary School were filled with people on Tuesday evening at the Fall Fun Festival, many wearing this year's signature T-shirt honouring Hanna Anderson and Trina Borley who died in a vehicle accident in July 2006.
"They probably would have been organizing this," Patrick Swadden said thinking back on the two young women he grew up with.
Elphi teacher Sarah Mani said following the tragic accident that took the two promising students of the grad class of '07, a group of their peers gathered with Mani and talked about their desire to remember the girls in a positive way.
"They wanted to bring the group [grad class] together in a way to honour those two girls," Mani said.
The first fall festival was held in September 2006. Since then, succeeding grad classes have taken it upon themselves to continue the event that brings together community for a fun evening and raises money towards the Trina and Hanna Bursary Fund. Two students receive the bursary each June for post-secondary education and Mani said it is a legacy that will continue well into the future.
Mani said the support from businesses was beyond what she imagined and continues every year. There were more than 50 raffle prizes donated, some worth more than $250. An ice-cream truck vendor donated 30 per cent of his earnings from this year's event that will take the total funds raised over the $5,100 already counted.
As in previous years, the festival kicked off with the grad class, playing against the teachers in a softball game. Trina and Hanna played on the softball team that won provincials shortly before their car accident and among other things, they both excelled in sports.
At the festival, teachers were dunked and pied, grads held a "kissing" booth and there were several different games for all ages including mini golf, a fishing pond for prizes, a fortune telling tent and face painting. All the food was donated and the evening wrapped up with the band Law and Order rocking out tunes that Trina and Hanna loved. Band members were friends of the two young women and singer Jesse Morrissey ended the evening on an emotional and reflective note by singing the song he wrote for them shortly after their deaths. Swadden, who was one of several past grads that returned for the festival, looked around at the large gathering of people all smiling and having fun and said: "It's just like I remember it two years ago. There's a lot of love in the air."
