Best friends create unique message of support for Bay de Verde
Two Grade 4 students from Tricon Elementary in Bay de Verde got creative to send a message to people affected by the fire at the town's fish plant.
- Bay de Verde fish plant workers displaced by fire start work in Brigus
- Bay de Verde residents come together in prayer, prepare to move on
Emma Bursey and Anna March Mulrooney live in Old Perlican, about 15 kilometres away. The best friends decided to make posters as a show of support.
"It's for everybody that helped in any way and just to let everybody know that we're there for them if they need anything," said Bursey
"Even though we live in Old Perlican, doesn't mean we can't help out the people in Bay de Verde because it is very, very sad and a bunch of people lost their jobs."
"We were just walking down the road and we were thinking why don't we make a sign to pray for the fire department, so we decided to do this … and we got everybody to sign it," said Mulrooney.
"We thought it was a great idea and we wanted everybody to know how devastating it is."
Hard on families
The Quinlan Brothers fish plant, one of the largest in the province, burned to the ground Monday, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate part of the community and leaving 700 employees out of work.
It was the first time Bay de Verde had to use its emergency plan, and many of those forced out of the area headed to the elementary school or stayed with relatives.
While the girls know tragedies like these can be focused mainly on the adults, they want people to know it affects families.
"It does have an affect on some people who, their parents have no jobs so they can't do as much as they could and now it's very hard for them too and it's very devastating," Mulrooney told CBC's St. John's Morning.
Keeping things normal
Wendy Tizzard, principal of Tricon Elementary, welcomed the girls' idea, as did everyone in the school, and offered her help and support.
"Mrs. Tizzard helped us … we went class to class and interrupted the classes to get them to sign it," said Mulrooney.
"They were all kind, and they were generous with what we were doing, especially the teachers, they all loved the idea."
She said even though classes were cancelled because of the fire, removing children from the tense situation, they still need to process the devastation.
"I mean they're home and they hear everything, and they come to school — and we're trying to keep it as normal as possible and a place for them to come and get away from all that I guess," said Tizzard.
"They [Bursey and Mulrooney] were just there Tuesday morning, just hands on," she said. "They've been so sweet talking about it and every now and then you hear little conversations on the go especially with the some of the younger kids who don't quite know what's on the go."
Tizzard added that some students have even been overheard brainstorming about what their parents can do for new jobs.
Pulling together
While the loss of the fish plant is a major blow to the area, Tizzard said people in the community have a way of pulling together to overcome adversity.
"I really feel everybody will be okay. It's just going to take a little time to get organized," she said.
"It's nice to see that Quinlans are on the go right away and getting people back to work and hopefully … everybody will have a productive summer, I pray, and we'll get back to normal."
"So, it's been interesting. I hope I never have to do it again, it seems like the longest week in history and today is still only Thursday."
with files from the St. John's Morning Show