A community is grieving after 15-year-old Thorhild Central School student Maisie Watkinson was killed following a March 7 crash between her school bus and a gravel truck.
Wearing stickers with bright yellow flowers and her initials, about 250 people gathered at Pembina Place Arena in Redwater March 9 to remember the teen.
There, four of her classmates on the Redwater Rush Midget hockey team wanted to honour her before a game against the Smoky Lake North Stars, said Rush team coach Colin Mazurenko.
Watkinson’s friend and Rush player Dylan Goulet delivered a pre-game speech in her honour.
“She wasn’t just another person in this world, she was one of the best. She was smart, beautiful on the inside and outside,” he said.
“It’s going to be hard now that she’s passed, but if I know Maisie, she’s watching over us all with love and compassion and she’s going to be the best guardian angel out there.
“Rest in peace, Maisie. We all love you,” said Goulet, ending his speech to a standing ovation from the crowd.
Donations were gathered at the game for the Maisie Watkinson Memorial Fund, which is dedicated to helping with funeral costs for the family, according to a GoFundMe page associated with the fund.
Volunteer Marcie Mazurenko helped collect donations at the game and arranged the GoFundMe Page. She said Watkinson was well known in the community.
“She was a beautiful soul that lit up the room, made everybody smile,” Mazurenko said. “A lot of people knew her and everyone that knew her loved her.”
She added that it means a lot to see the outpouring of community support for the event.
“It means a lot of course, to everybody. We’re a small community and it’s a close-knit group of kids. It’s good to see other people here that are supporting that as well,” she said.
Thorhild County reeve Kevin Grumetza said news of the crash is “devastating,” as well as a reminder to slow down and spend time with family.
But the community will find a way to recover, Grumetza said.
“We have a really, really strong community here. As devastating as this is, people will bounce back and come to grips with something as tragic as this,” Grumetza said.
Opal Road, where the collision occurred, was a subject of a Thorhild County report dated Feb. 27.
The report highlighted speeding concerns along the approximately 23-kilometre stretch of road.
“With having six bus stops along this road and 38 per cent of vehicles traveling 15 km/h or more over the posted legal speed limit, this is not conducive to a safe pedestrian/vehicle environment,” Thorhild County chief administrative officer Wayne Franklin wrote.
Grumetza won’t speculate on the cause of the crash and will wait for a police report.
“We’ll see what comes out of the police report,” Grumetza said. “If there’s something there that all the parties involved can do, something to make it better, that’s what we’ll need to see.”
Public officials, including Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater MLA Colin Piquette and Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs also expressed condolences for the Thorhild community on Facebook after the March 7 crash.
