Braving wind gusts upwards of 30 miles per hour and heavy rain, a small crowd of Newtown residents joined elected officials on the steps of Edmond Town Hall to honor the 26 victims of the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook School shooting.
Four memorials of flowers and stuffed animals, each on a stone bench in this historic stretch of Newtown, were covered with plastic to protect them from the elements. A few people periodically had to resecure the plastic due to the powerful wind gusts leading up to the 9:30 a.m. moment of silence, which marked what Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has declared a statewide "Day of Mourning."
No remarks were made at the ceremony. The only sound, heard over the whipping wind, was the ringing of Trinity Episcopal Church's bell. It rang 26 times over a period of about seven minutes — once for each of the 26 victims of the shooting (20 children and six adults).
[Editor's note: This article was originally published on Dec. 21. The publication date was changed for layout purposes.]
