Area schools will remember Newtown victims at Fri. vigil

GAINESVILLE - Both public and private schools in Hall County are planning to join together for a candlelight vigil Friday afternoon as a way to memorialize those who were killed in this past Friday's shooting in Newtown, CT.

Schools in the area are already closed for Christmas break, but Hall County School Superitendent Will Schofield said this is a special circumstance.

He said he and Gainesville School Superintendent Dr. Merriane Dyer talked over the weekend about what they could do to remember the students and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

"We just sensed that there was a need for this community, that those who are interested, be able to come together and tell our friends in Connecticut that we hear them, that our hearts are breaking with them," said Schofield.

He said they also are working to talk with administrators from private schools in the county to ensure that they and their students and staffs are invited to participate.

He said there's no formal program for the vigil.

Anyone who wants to attend is asked to gather at the Gardens at Green adjacent to the Hall County District Office on Friday, December 21 at 5:30 p.m.

This vigil is the second such event organized in the area. The town of Clermont earlier had announced a vigil for 7:00 p.m. Friday at Clay Gailey Park.