PRICE (KYTX) - After the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy, some parents in Price decided to put together a memorial for those victims.
The memorial was built on Sunday and it reads "Christmas with Jesus. God Bless Sandy Hook Elementary. At the bottom, are the names of all the shooting victims. It's a memorial like this that brings the community together during tragedy.
Tuesday, candlelight pierced through the night, as a community clung together.
Parent Tammy Ellison and her friend built a memorial and planned the candlelight vigil at Carlisle Elementary, so their community could come together to pray for the shooting victims.
"I think it does a lot for the community because it pulls us together as a whole," Ellison said.
Principal Stephanie Rowan was glad the vigil and memorial were held her school.
"It's wonderful," she said. "It makes me very proud as a principal for the community to come together like this."
The message of oneness, was well-received by children in the community.
7th grade Carlisle student, Kolton Beam, said, "It means a lot for me to see that they actually care and if this happened to us they would be right by our side."
The hope is for their message to reach far beyond East Texas.
"It shows the community that is suffering there in Connecticut that we care and we're sending our love from afar," Ellison said.
Beam says, "To show respect for all the kids that died and their parents also."
Gathering in prayer and song, a small and loving community is finding light, in all the darkness.
As a part of the memorial, 26 posts in the ground represent the 26 lives lost in the Connecticut shooting. The community in Price hopes the whole memorial will serve as a memory for innocent lives lost, and a reminder that we need to keep our schools as safe as possible.
The memorial was built at Carlisle Elementary because 20 of the victims were elementary school students.
The memorial is the only of it's kind known to be here in East Texas.
