Committee members of the Mothers Against Drunk Driver's Grand Falls-Windsor chapter are worried about securing a place for a new monument in the Exploits region. The monument funded with local money bears the names of families and victims, (dead and living) affected by drunk driving in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Local chapter President Lisa Lindahl started designing the monument in 2005 out of the trauma of having her two daughters injured when a drunk driver hit the vehicle they were passengers in. Her brother-in-law, Mike Good-year, encouraged and "babied" her idea, which grew from a local tribute into a province-wide project.
"As of a year-and-a-half ago this was the first provincial tribute in Canada," said Ms. Lindahl. "So it was a really big deal to us and when we started work to find a place for it we contacted some local organization who had spots and we contacted some government areas that had spots. I had gone down to the town and had various conversations with different people and what I found was that not as many people were as excited about this as I was."
The monument has been ready and waiting for a home for about two years and Ms. Lindahl said the committee strongly supports it being placed in Grand Falls-Windsor. But she said they keep hitting a brick wall when it comes to finding a suitable place for it.
"We were offered a couple of locations in the last eight months by the town, but they were places that would put this to the side," she said. "What we want and believe would be the best thing is for this to be a showpiece, about prevention, not just about victims and their families. This could mean that someone driving by this tribute daily will see this decide whether or not they drink and drive, or get in a car with someone drinking and driving - that your son, your daughter, your niece, nephew, mother, father, your neighbour will live because somebody didn't drink and drive."
Ms. Lindahl said they would also like to find a place where families who have family members' names on the tribute can easily find it when they travel from other parts of the province. "We consider this to be an attribute to the Exploits community where we will hold candlelight vigils and a grand unveiling with MADD Canada representatives and victims and families coming here. This would bring economic development to the town." Mayor Al Hawkins said the town fully supports the MADD monument being kept here, and he believes it would be a great asset to the town.
"I have no idea why it has taken so long but there have been a couple of locations where, for instance, the fire department has nad an issue with parking and details like that. And we have mentioned a couple of places that were not suitable for them. But it's not that we are against the monument. We are supporting them and we will support them in finding a proper location."
Ms. Lindahl said parks and recreation director Dave Nichols has been working with the group to try to help MADD and the town form a consensus on a suitable location.
They plan to view at least two locations within the next few days. She said they appreciate those efforts, but caution that if they don't find a place to put the tribute, they will look outside the municipality.
