Duxbury, Vt.
In the two weeks since the crash, the school has been flooded by waves of support from throughout Vermont. Donations of comfort food and visits from therapy dogs have bolstered the student body, one teacher said.
The greater community continues to reel in the wake of the crash.
A few local restaurants closed Monday night in honor of the celebration. Throughout the six towns in the district, businesses and residents have put up displays of five stars wrapped in strings of lights — each representing one of the five teenagers.
A similar display, surrounded by chrysanthemums, stood at the front of the stage with a photo of each of the students: Mary Harris, Eli Brookens, Janie Chase Cozzi, Cyrus Zschau and Liam Hale.
Before the ceremony started, Lisa Atwood, one of the school’s co-principals, commented as she watched people stream into the gym that the students who helped organize the event hoped it would be “celebratory.”
During the two-hour-long celebration, stories from friends and teachers about the five students were often punctuated with bursts of laughter.
A portion of the program was set aside for each of the five teens, with a friend or two and a teacher speaking about each. They shared memories from growing up, anecdotes from the classroom and snippets from past homework assignments.
“I believe that it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice,” Mary Harris wrote in an essay for a 10th-grade history class, teacher Kathy Cadwell told the crowd.
After Harris’ death, another teacher shared with her friend Lauryn Green a recent homework assignment Harris had completed on planning her ideal day.
“The last thing on the list is something that caught my eye, and I couldn’t help but smile when reading this,” Green said. “Mary would end her ideal day with a concert full of cool artists and her closest friends.”
Green said Eli Brookens had written the same thing.
The five students were driving back from a Mike Stud concert in South Burlington the night of the crash. Green was there too, she said.
“I just wanted to let everyone know that I don’t think they could have had a better last night,” Green said. “They danced the night away, sang their hearts out, and I know they were all very, very happy.”
Friends of Brookens’ described him as an avid skier.
English teacher Jonah Ibson described Brookens’ wit and creativity in class.
Cyrus Zschau was remembered as a keen baseball player and a dedicated friend.
Friends described Janie Chase Cozzi as upbeat, active and happy. Chase Cozzi grew up in the Mad River Valley and attended Harwood through middle school, before attending Kimball Union Academy in Meriden. One friend recalled attending circus camp, paddle-boarding on Blueberry Lake, and Nordic skiing with her.
Liam Hale was described as a sharp-dressed lover of cars and mountain biking, with a knack for telling big stories.
After students and teachers finished speaking, Harwood alum and singer-songwriter Grace Potter performed the song, Stars.
As people filed out of the gym at the end of the ceremony, before a fireworks display began outside, one teen boy leaned into his friend and said quietly, “Stay strong.”