Community Vigil 'Reaches Out'

It began with a bagpiper and ended with everyone holding a single candle. Powerful stuff. But that's what organizers Bob Houghtaling and Jean Ann Guliano felt was needed in the days following the horrific shootings in Newtown, Conn.

The event Thursday evening at St. Luke's Church feature school and town officials, including Town Council President Michael Isaacs, Police Chief Thomas Coyle, and Eldredge Principal Dominic Giuisti. Pat Flanagan, a pediatrician at Hasbro Children's Hospital, also spoke. Teens introduced each of the speakers, and provided music for the evening. 

About 60 people turned out. Bob Houghtaling read a poem he'd written about Newtown. It is printed below. There's one more chance to respond to Newtown –

Newtown’s Snow
By Bob Houghtaling 

Hear the grieving mother.
Watch a father in despair.
Families touched by sadness,
surrounded by those who care.

Winter’s chill upon us.
Nights seem much more stark.
Yet choirs sing of Christmas
and a light shines in the dark.

It begins as a whisper,
then lands upon your face.
It’s snowing in New England
on a very special place.

Look up to the gentle flakes
falling from the sky –
they are children dressed as Angels –
sent from ‘up on high’.

They come around this time each year– 
to remind us here on earth–
just how precious children are
and how very much they’re worth.

To those filled with sadness
trust that deep within your heart –
your children all are Angels
and you’re never far apart.

Soon they will come back again,
as gentle snowflakes too –
living up in a Holy Place
and returning each year new.