6 I The Lovell Chronicle [ October 21, 2010
www. LovellChronicle.com
Candlelight vigil reminds residents of the life-shattering effects of violence
BY
PHYLLIS BRONKEMA
If you forgot about or
didn't go to the CARES
Candlelight Vigil on Tues-
day night, Oct. 12, you re-
ally missed out on an in-
formative and moving
evening. Many people in
our area are under the im-
pression that we don't have
much violence here. That
couldn't be further from
the truth. As CARES Di-
rector Leslie Hoffman told
attendees, "There have
been 170 cases of violence
in Big Horn County in the
past year."
Our local community
has been hugely affected
by violence since the shoot-
ing of Brenda Davila in
2007, and more recently by
the death of former resi-
dent Jennifer Thomas Mc-
Dougall in Spring, Texas,
in May of this year. Even
though Jennifer's death
occurred in Texas, she
was raised in Lovell, and,
as with Brenda, was very
much a part of our lives.
The occurrence of both
incidents sent shockwaves
throughout the community
as it sunk in that violent
crime had even reached our
small town.
Sheriff Ken Blackburn
attended and spoke at the
vigil.
"I believe strongly that
being with families and
victims of a crime is the
most important part of my
job," Blackburn said, add-
ing that small town law
enforcement means that
he and his officers know
the victims and care about
them. "It hurts us, too."
He said his hope for the
evening was that people
would leave the vigil with
a stronger resolve to serve
and show compassion for
their fellow man.
Also speaking at the
event was Martha Davila,
mother of Brenda, as well
as Jim Thomas, father of
Jennifer. It obviously took
tremendous courage for
both of them to dredge up
the painful memories of
how their children had lost
their lives through violent
means and to then share
them with the crowd.
Small, dark-haired,
Mrs. Davila, mother of
eight children, spoke first.
Fighting tears, Brenda's
mother shared that she
was only willing to speak
because there are so many
girls who have abusive boy-
friends or husbands. She
hoped that by teIling her
story she could spare other
young women from under-
going similar tragedies.
She haltingly and tear-
fully recounted the events
of Nov. 5, 2007. Especially
moving was what she said
happened after Brenda's
husband had shot his wife,
then himself in the head.
"I ran after him and
pulled on his shirt," Davi-
la said. "I wanted to finish
him off myself, but I didn't.
His actions had ripped
my heart out, but I real-
ized that I had no right to
judge him. I forgave him
instead."
Next to speak was Jim
Thomas, emergency re-
sponder in Lovell for many
years. As with Mrs. Da-
vila, it was painfully ob-
BUD BRONKEMA
Members of the community show their support with a prayer for friends and
neighbors who have lost a loved one because of domestic violence.
vious that it was hard for
him to share his story.
He said the hardest thing
for him to deal with was
that even though he is a pro-
tective father, he didn't get
to protect his own daughter.
He recounted that because
he didn't recognize the signs
of abuse in his daughter's
marriage, he and his wife
are now raising Jennifer's
three children.
"We now have a 2-year-
old boy who wakes us
screaming at night, grab-
bing his blanket, and run-
ning down our hall looking
for his mother," Thomas
said.
To save others from go-
ing through a similar situ-
ation, he said parents need
to recognize the warning
signs of abuse:
1. Does your husband
call you names, insult you,
put you down?
2. Is your husband over
controlling?
3. Does he act jealous,
possessive and accuse you
of being unfaithful?
4. Does he force you to
have sex against your will?
If any of these signs of
abuse are evident, it is pos-
sible that abuse is happen-
ing. Granted, it could be the
other way around, with the
wife being the abuser.
The Thomases not only
lost their daughter, but
their unborn grand-daugh-
ter, Gwen, due to be born
a month from the incident.
Thus the crime was actual-
ly a double homicide.
"CARES was there at
a time when I was lost and
didn't know what to do,"
Thomas said. "They paid
for me to go to Texas. Once
there the media was turn-
ing everything into a cir-
cus. I didn't want things to
turn out that way in Lovell.
When we brought Jennifer
and baby Gwen home for
their funeral, Sheriff Black-
burn kept everything under
control. I felt deeply grateful
to live in a town like Lovell,
where everyone cares and
everyone helps."
The end of the evening
was poignant as well. Pas-
tor Paula Morse of the Unit-
ed Methodist Church asked
all participants to come
to the front and to place a
hand on their neighbor. She
then said a beautiful prayer
for healing. It was powerful.
Both Thomas and Davila
are now raising the children
of their daughters. Both
are grateful they can do so
in Lovell and for the help
they received from CARES
during their mutual night-
mares.
As with Breast Cancer
Awareness, October is Do-
mestic Violence Awareness
Month. CARES would like
the public to be aware that
they are available to help
during times of domestic
violence. They offer coun-
seling and support to vic-
tims and their families.
They will seek civil legal
protection, if needed, and if
a case is open, can help get
people through the legal
process. Call the CARES
office at 548-2330 for help
or for more information.
CARES Director Les-
lie Hoffman said the Oct
12 Candlelight Vigil will
be available for viewing
on TCT West and online at
tctwest.net in the near fu-
ture.
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Cancer Support
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7 pm, Thursday, Oct. 21
Multi-purpose room
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i iiVOTE
THE BALD LADY REPORT
Last week's cause for baldness is a machine that is designed to mark the ballot for those with
disabilities. The "Auto Mark" machine talks to you! The problem is that this machine must be programmed
with instructions by the way the words sound; correct spelling is irrelevant. Phonetic spelling for a computer
voice is pretty much trial and error so it is very time consuming. Annette Dillon and I held election judges
training in Basirl and Lovell last Thursday and Friday for approximately 110 judges. I prepared the
commissioners' correspondence and posted the agenda for the commissioners' meeting this week. We are
working on insurance changes for over 100 employees. We prepared the county bills for the commissioners'
approval for this week's meeting. Daily work continues, we made 172 vehicle titles, recorded $1,673.00 in the
last few weeks. WHEW! Absentee ballot requests have come in continuously and up to date we have sent out
723 ballots (with two weeks yet to go). We are also creating the instruction and supply boxes for the polling
places to comply with federal and state laws. I will be publicly testing and sealing the voting machines with
judges present this week. I spent the weekend preparing sample ballots, an ad for the paper and one more
speech for a candidate's forum. I am in my element, MULTI-TASKING! We are getting down to the wire; I
have excitement...tension.., excitement!
Big00nty
Voting Districts
are designated as follows:
TOWN DISTRICT
Basin 1-1 1
Burlington 2-1 2
Otto 3-1 3
Emblem 5-1 5
Hyattville 6-1 6
Manderson 8-1 8
Greybul111-1 11
Shell 16-1 16
Lovell 20-1 20
Cowley 22-1 22
Byron 23-1 23
Deaver 25-1 25
Frannie 26-1 26
Absentee 27
PRECINCT
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WHERE YOU VOTE/POLLING PLACE
Fair Grounds
Fire Hall
Burlington Fire Hall
Irrigation District Office
Community Center
Town Hall
Elks Lodge
Community Hall
National Guard Armory
Log Gym
Town Complex
Community Hall
School Building
Election Room/Basin
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