MEDINA, Ohio – It was an emotional celebration of life, love and loss at Buckeye Woods Park Sept. 15 as nearly 200 people and their pets gathered for the 12th annual Rainbow Bridge Walk where they remembered their beloved furry friends who have passed on.
Visitors and their furry companions gathered under tents and the park pavilion as Deacon Mark Tomecko from St. Francis Xavier Church offered a blessing of the pets. Beth Kilchenman read the famous Rainbow Bridge poem leaving very few dry eyes in the crowd. Bereavement coordinator at Hospice of the Western Reserve Medina County JoDee Coulter spoke with guests about services to help them with the grief of losing a pet and local singer Randy Vahl performed her song, Colors Fill the Sky.
As participants and their pets returned from the tribute walk in the park, Char Arthur, who first came up with the idea for the Rainbow Bridge Walk and who has organized the event for the last 12 years, announced she plans to retire.
“I have mixed feelings,” she said. “This event has been my baby, but I’m 70 years old and I think I’m ready to pass the torch. It’s hard to give this up because it impacts so many people. Just this year I had a gal who came for the first time tell me how she felt comfortable to go ahead and cry because she knew the people here understood what she was going through. I really hope that we will find a way to keep this going.”
Arthur said that over the next year, she will help prepare any potential volunteers who want to keep the event going. She said that anyone interested in volunteering for the event can visit rainbowbridgewalk.com and click on the “team” button. Visitors will be asked to fill out a form that includes their contact information.
“That will give me a database to work with and then I can see about getting this group together and pass on to them timelines and files and contacts to help get them through the ropes,” she said. “I’m not going to throw them in the pool and hope they swim.”
Arthur said she started the event 12 years ago to provide a place where people who are mourning the loss of their pets could meet with likeminded people.
