8 June 2010

Powerful Ceremony Marks 30th Anniversary of Horrific CPR Crew Crash

Survivors Richard Norman, Gerald Synard, Mike Lake, and Angus Moores unveiled the
memorial during the 28 May 2010 ceremony in Rushoon.

Rushoon Newfoundland - Thirty years to the day a horrific three-vehicle crash near Webb, Saskatchewan, claimed the lives of 22 people, including 12 from this province, a remembrance service and memorial dedication honoured the victims and survivors in Rushoon on 28 May 2010.
 
Only eight of the 30 members of a Canadian Pacific Railway's Prairie Region Steel Gang survived, when a tanker truck carrying liquid asphalt plowed into their bus from behind, after it had already hit a car that had caused it to flip on its side.
 
Of the 22 victims, 10 came from small communities around the Burin Peninsula, including four from Rushoon.
 
The other two Newfoundlanders hailed from Hodges Cove in Trinity Bay, while the rest were from Manitoba and Ontario.
 
Father Steve Courtney acknowledged he had never seen Christ the King Church as full as it was for the service.
 
"I hope that this gathering will be a source of healing and strength, a time to comfort one another and perhaps rekindle some old friendships and see some old faces," he told those who jammed the church, so much so proceedings were delayed until extra seats arrived.
 
It was an apt way to start, as much of the events that followed reflected those opening words.
 
Through Bible readings, prayers, hymns, and a candle lighting ceremony, victims and survivors were remembered.
 
Rushoon Mayor Jill Mulrooney commended everyone who made the service and memorial a reality.
 
She said she was honoured and proud to be a part of the organizing committee. She pointed out it was survivors Mike Lake of Rushoon and Gerald Synard of Parkers Cove, who had approached her with the idea nearly three months ago.
 
"It's hard to believe 30 years have passed since that fateful day, which changed the lives of so many people in so many small towns across this country."
 
Among the dignitaries present were Random-Burin-St. George's MP Judy Foote and Burin-Placentia West MHA Clyde Jackman.
 
Mrs. Foote called the rain showers that accompanied her on the trip down the highway to Rushoon symbolic of the tears that must have fell around the Burin Peninsula as word of the accident spread three decades ago.
 
She also said she felt privileged to inform the entire country of the tragedy's anniversary in the House of Commons a few days prior.
 
Mr. Jackman, who resides in nearby Baine Harbour, recalled the accident, noting he had lived in the community for only a short while before the catastrophe occurred. He said he was especially moved by the ceremony.
 
"This is a wonderful, wonderful event. I know it's a time of tragedy, but I've got to tell you, I sat there and thought, this is a wonderful event."
 
Outside, following the church service, Father Courtney dedicated a memorial replicated from one built by the people of Webb to honour the tragedy. Mayor Mulrooney said the survivors worked tirelessly to complete the monument in time.
 
"I'd drive by and darkness would be coming on. The boys would be here working."
 
Afterwards, Mr. Synard reflected on the day's events, acknowledging they had been overwhelming for him.
 
"Being a survivor of the accident, you've got a whole different outlook. Of course, you always wonder how the families are feeling and how they're thinking but to see this happening here today, and for everyone to turn out, and all the thank-you's that us guys are after getting is almost like a medication. There's no words to explain how it makes me feel."
 
Those who died:
 
·  Edmund Brushett, age 25, Little Bay, NL
 
·  Michael Cheeseman, age 22, Rushoon, NL
 
·  Garfield Clark, age 21, Little Bay East, NL
 
·  Adrian Drake, age 19, Lawn, NL
 
·  Clifford Hawse, age 27, St. Lawrence, NL
 
·  Calvin Lake, age 27, Rushoon, NL
 
·  James Lake, age 22, Rushoon, NL
 
·  Ruben Lavhey, age 21, Terrenceville, NL
 
·  Lewis Seward, age 33, Hodges Cove, NL
 
·  Weldon Seward, age 22, Hodges Cove, NL
 
·  Richard Slaney, age 25, St. Lawrence, NL
 
·  Michael Whiffen, age 20, Rushoon, NL
 
·  Mark Berard, age 20, St. Malo, MB
 
·  Leslie Ducharme, age 38, Macgregor, MB
 
·  Berne Gosselin, age 24, St. Malo, MB
 
·  Rob Hall, age 23, Vermillion Bay, ON
 
·  William Lemon, age 23, Swan River, MB
 
·  Peter May, age 19, Swan River, MB
 
·  Robert Reimer, age 22, Rosenort, MB
 
·  Kevin Tanner, age 21, Winnipeg, MB
 
·  Walter Tanner, age 20, Winnipeg, MB
 
Those who survived:
 
·  Gerald Synard, age 19, Parkers Cove, NL
 
·  Angus Moores, age 21, Rushoon, NL
 
·  Michael Lake, age 18, Rushoon, NL
 
·  Richard Norman, age 18, Rushoon, NL
 
·  Augustus Hickey, age 24, Grand Le Pierre, NL
 
·  Brian J. Walsh, age 18, St. Lawrence, NL
 
·  Steven Papetti, age 19, Winnipeg, MB
 
·  Derald Flaman, age 18, Calgary, AB
 
Paul Herridge.