By:
Jason R. Vallee, staff | Posted: Monday, July 21, 2008 12:00
am
PLAINVILLE - When Dr. William A. Petit Jr.
planned his speech for the start of the first-ever GE Petit Family Foundation 5K
Road Race, he and event organizers had expected to address about 500 area
friends and racers. But at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, he found himself addressing more
than 3,500 participants.
Petit was calm, although he admitted later
that he was dealing with a rollercoaster of emotions, and encouraged the runners
to find the good in evil and to turn tragedy into triumph. He then said he knew
they already had done just that.
"This just goes to show how much people
care. It shows when they are faced with an evil that's incomprehensible, they
will respond and turn it into something positive," Petit said. "There aren't
many words to describe it. It's touching, almost
overwhelming."
All proceeds from the event, which was
hosted by the Petit Family Foundation and GE Industrial-Plainville on
A 25-person committee had begun planning
in February. When the race drew near and preregistration alone had led to the
entry of 1,700 racers and walkers, committee members realized that the event had
touched the community, Heslin said.
The foundation was established in memory
of Petit's wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and the couple's two children, Hayley and
Michaela. All three died on July 23, 2007, when they were taken hostage, robbed
and killed during a home invasion at their
Looking around at the crowd, which filled
GE's
"Dr. Petit encouraged everyone here to
focus on the positive and to be the change you want in society, and that's what
you have here is a group of people coming together from across the state to make
a difference," said Jones, a member of the Petit Family Foundation volunteer
group.
Jones said he saw the turnout as a
tremendous tribute to the Petit family, who often
frequented
Petit said he was impressed that more than
two-thirds of Sunday's participants were female. He said the turnout sent a
clear message that women throughout the state are making a stand against
violence against women.
Embracing that message were the emergency
room nurses of the
Emiliee Yurgeles, a registered nurse at
Bradley Hospital, and New Britain emergency room R.N. Laura Prior both said the
hospital is moving on, but doing so with the Petit family in its staff's minds
and hearts.
"I can still recall the day it happened,
how we were all called into a staff meeting and given the news," Yurgeles said.
"We were basically given the question, 'Where do we go from here?' Luckily, as
you can see today, we have all found a way and it's a way that is keeping their
memory alive. The only thing to do now is make sure we continue this direction
and support that cause not just days or even a year after, but
forever."
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http://www.myrecordjournal.com/cheshire/article_7c69e176-3f68-5fbd-bb1a-1740564afee6.html