Small
log made of Tyvek. Bring your own
pen.
On
September 5, 2001, David McClellan, son of Tim and Cynthia
McClellan, succumbed to a long bout with cancer. Tim was a pastor
at Cedar Valley Community Church at the time. It was a tragedy to
lose a vibrant young man like himself. He was in my daughter’s 9th
grade class at Walnut Ridge Academy at the time. The whole school
was affected. As a memorial a parent came up with the idea of
donating a tree to the family. We purchased one and planted it in
their front yard; later they moved and took it with them. Another
of the same species was eventually donated to plant on the school
grounds. David would have graduated in
2005.
It
seemed appropriate that a “David tree” should live on at the
Academy. We already had a tree there for Ezra Flamm, son of Bob and
Mary Flamm. Ezra died from a rare condition in which a virus
attacked his heart during a bout of the flu. That was around 1986.
He was only about eight years old, and at home when he died. Mary
made the sad discovery. His parents both taught at the Academy. Bob
was the science teacher at the time and a good friend of mine.
Interestingly I now have his former job. Ezra would have graduated
in 1996.
Since
David’s death we have added more trees. Most are memorials for four
of our former students that were killed in car accidents. It seems
we have a memorial garden out in front of the school. Stories of
their tragedies follow.
In
August 2001, John Swartzendruber, (class of 1998) was killed by a
drunken driver. Devoutly religious, John did not drink. An
intoxicated friend however called John to ask him to pick him up to
take him home. John graciously said he would. Around 1 AM, less
than a mile from the school on 4th street, a drunk driver crossed
the centerline and crashed into John's sport utility vehicle. John
had been one of my favorite students, a good young man who always
wanted to sit up front in science class. I considered him a friend.
Read about what John's father did in honor of his
son.
On
June 30, 2004, Kyle Zey (a friend of my son’s and in his WRBA
graduating class, 2003) was riding his motorcycle home in the early
morning from Waterloo to Cedar Falls. His girlfriend Stacey asked
him to call her once he got home, but no call came. Worried, Stacey
called his parents. Not knowing where he was, they set out in two
cars looking, and praying. It fell upon Stacey to find Kyle at the
scene of the accident around 2 a.m, about an hour after he was
killed. A drunk had crossed the median along that terrible stretch
of HWY 58 in Cedar Falls and struck him. Kyle had even ditched his
motorcycle in the way that he was taught to do, but the drunken man
managed to hit him even off his bike! The driver did not stop to
help. He went on home, claiming that he didn't know anything had
happened. (!) Ever see the white cross painted on the pavement near
Blaine’s Farm and Fleet along HWY 58? That is where Kyle entered
eternity. His death instigated the creation of the fence along that
route. I’ve seen that it has been hit many times
since.
Not
even a year later, on Nov. 19, 2004, two other former WRBA
graduates (1995), David Rasanen, M.D., and his wife, Sandi
(Carlson) were killed in Shreveport, Louisiana. David was a
brilliant student who trained hard to become a doctor. On their way
home to Waterloo for the holidays a young driver of a pickup
crossed the centerline and hit their small car head-on. Believe it
or not, Stacey, Kyle’s girlfriend, was Sandi Rasanen’s sister! She
lost a sister then a boyfriend in less than a
year.
In
the school yard there are three memorial stones under three of the
trees. One’s for Ezra, one for David and one for
John.
When
we were talking about what tree to get David I suggested a
Ginkgo. I wanted
that because they are almost invincible. They are resistant to
disease, symbolic of what we hoped David would be. The leaves are
wonderfully unique and are supposed to be medicinal, again
symbolic. Finally, they are special, like David was. Each fall they
drop essentially all their leaves on one day. The picture
here shows the tree on the day it dropped its leaves in 2007. Try
to locate it when you arrive to find David's cache. The leaves that
fell still had
a lot of green in them. That has happened every year so far.
While other ginkgoes around town are turning yellow, David's tree
seems to refuse to give in to the upcoming winter demise. I
challenge all my classes to guess which day the big event will
occur. It’s fun! The students learn something about Ginkgoes this
way and we remember David at this time. I call it David’s
Day. This year (2007) David’s Day was on November 7th. Next
year you all can participate if you
like.
Be
healthy, happy geocaching, don’t drink and drive, and drive
defensively, especially after
midnight.
-it