By Matt Conte
Bags holding luminary lights carried the names of the departed, who were honored by survivors on Saturday during the Common Ground Grief Center “Light a Life Walk” in Manasquan.
Photo by CHRISTIN NICE, STAR NEWS GROUP
MANASQUAN — The sun set at 4:33 p.m. on Saturday but sidewalks along Main Street in Manasquan were brightened for a few hours more by luminary lights memorializing lost loved ones.
Common Ground Grief Center, a Manasquan-based nonprofit that offers support for children who have experienced a difficult loss in their life, put on the Light a Life Walk of Remembrance, selling luminary bags for $10 that were then filled with a sandbag and a light and placed somewhere on Main Street.
Common Ground founder and director Lynn Snyder said she was expecting around 200 bags to be sold, as there were bags for sale prior to the event and at a table on Main Street during, but the volunteers ended up selling almost all of the 500 bags they purchased, as the tangible remembrances spilled over onto side streets, including as far as The Coast Star’s Broad Street office.
Ms. Snyder and her volunteers wrote the names of the lost on each bag, memorializing whoever the purchaser wished, as part of this year’s event, the first of what Ms. Snyder hopes is many.
Ms. Snyder said the idea came from Common Ground volunteer Elisabeth Schwinn, who had seen similar events elsewhere, and the name came from Ms. Schwinn’s daughter Courtney, who said the phrase “light a life” just came to her.
Ms. Snyder and Ms. Schwinn said they wanted to do the walk during the holiday season because it can be a tough time for those who have lost loved ones.
“The holidays remind people of their loved ones, it’s when people remember,” Ms. Snyder said. “So this is a nice way to honor the people that we miss.”
Many people walking through downtown decided to stop and buy luminary bags, whether it be for a close family member or someone else who they knew who has died. Shirley Carhart, a teacher at Brielle Elementary School, purchased one for her late husband Robert, and said she was going to make sure to come pick it up after the event was over. Manasquan Elementary School counselor Nancy Sanders bought multiple bags, saying it was a beautiful way to pay tribute.
“It’s also a great cause that’s close to my heart,” Ms. Sanders said. “I love the way it’s bringing the town together tonight.”
Ms. Snyder was joined by volunteers young and old, like Manasquan High School student Sarah Galvin, Brielle Elementary student Madison Starkey and Sea Girt Elementary student Nick Donadio, Common Ground board members like Mark Sheklian of Squan Family Dentistry, Manasquan residents Tami Valdez and Donna Feld, and Kevin Orender of Orender Family Funeral Home in Wall Township.
Walking the streets, many names appeared more than once, including multiple for Zach Herman, who Ms. Snyder said was a recent graduate of Wall High School who had become part of the Common Ground community after the death of his father six years ago.
Ms. Snyder and other members of the Common Ground community said they were touched to see so many bags lit up in his honor.
“Zach touched the lives of so many in the community,” Ms. Snyder said. “He will always be remembered by his beautiful smile, bright blue eyes and gentle spirit. It was evident by the amount of luminaries purchased in memory of him that he was a very special young man who is greatly missed.”
All the funds raised from Saturday go directly to Common Ground. In addition to fundraisers like the Light a Life Walk, the nonprofit gets funding from individual donations and government grants to help keep their programs entirely free.
Anyone who purchased a luminary bag but did not pick it up at 8 p.m., when the event ended, can contact Ms. Snyder at Common Ground to make arrangements to pick up their bag.
Common Ground is located on Route 71 in Manasquan in a building that provides a number of different rooms that are specifically designed to help children ages 6 through 18 deal with grief. There are rooms that feature talking circles, music, art, sand-play, puppetry, gross motor activities and a full-scale “play” hospital room.
All of the group’s facilitators are volunteers who are trained in a comprehensive program to prepare them for the sensitive nature of Common Ground.
The nonprofit was founded in 2009 by Lynn Snyder and hopes the Light a Life Walk will serve as a winter companion to its other largest event of the year, Chef’s Extraordinaire, a culinary wine tasting with dishes and drinks provided by local chefs.
The Light a Life Walk was put on in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Manasquan Savings Bank.
More information can be found at www.commongroundgriefcenter.org.
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