Sylvie Paillard
[email protected]
"A young girl who gave her life not in dying, but in her life working with children."
This, says Denice Roberge, is they way she wants her daughter to be remembered. Family, friends and volunteer organizations gathered in homes, churches, and schools this week to honour 17-year-old Alison Roberge who lived an exceptional life of volunteer work with children. It was while volunteering on a Girl Guide river rafting trip Saturday (May 12) that Roberge lost her life, and a community memorial at Brennan Park Thursday (May 19) reflected the impact the young woman had on her town.
Denice talked about Alison Monday (May 16) with needle and thread in hand putting the finishing touches on Alison's graduation dress, in which she will be buried. Alison would have turned 18 on grad night, May 27.
Following consultation among family members, Howe Sound Secondary School principal Peter Hotston and the graduating class, it was decided that a minute of silence would be observed during graduation ceremonies, said Denice, adding that Alison would not have wanted to put a pall on the event.
"She didn't want people weeping and wailing over her," she said.
Denice sat greeting family, friends, accepting one delivery after another of flowers and fruit baskets and, above all, fielding media inquiries. By Monday afternoon, she and family members understood that stories coming out of media outlets in Vancouver were wildly inaccurate, and disrespectful to Alison's memory.
"They showed her as this hero, but that's not really what happened," said sister Stephanie. "They're just using her to get ratings."
Alison, by all accounts, was a fun-loving, lively and very loud girl.
"You had to learn to speak up in a family of five kids," laughs Stephanie.
"I used to have to tell her to keep her voice down because she'd give me a headache," grins Denice.
This loud voice and joyful demeanor made her a favourite with her charges, the Pathfinder Girl Guide group, and she also made enduring friendships with adults. Cindy Blatny helps organize Girl Guide excursion and met Alison five years ago through the organization. Blatny soon made Alison her right hand girl due to her unfailing reliability, and Alison soon became part of the Blatny family. Alison was planning to go to university in Kelowna next year and was excited that the Blatny family was moving to nearby Vernon.
The Girl Guides were also upset by what they said were blatantly wrong media accounts of the incident causing Blatny and a second adult leader Monique Laskovic - both in the raft that capsized - to come forward with the story.
The Girl Guide organization, including provincial commissioner Judy Maurice, area commissioner Ann Birch and chief commissioner Gretchen McCurdy, held a private ceremony with family before the public memorial Thursday to confer on Alison the Chief Commissioner award, which she had been scheduled to receive.
Denice said she's overwhelmed by the community response.
"She's obviously touched people in a huge way."
