 to my fellow Vermonters and to the others who are gathered with us here today. And I want to thank you for coming to Vermont Interfaith Action's statewide COVID Memorial service. We hope that this will be a time of healing for all of us. We're going to start the ceremony with the lighting of a memorial candle and then we will hear some words from Lieutenant Governor Mollie Gray. Good afternoon. My name is Lieutenant Governor Mollie Gray. It's a pleasure to be here today. It's really a pleasure to see so many people coming together here at the State House. I want to begin by recognizing CJ King, Vermont Interfaith Action and all the faith and community leaders here for today for creating the space and an opportunity to pause and to recognize the lives lost to COVID-19. As I was driving down from Burlington today on this sunny, cool, slightly cool, although it feels a little bit warmer now. Chris, September Day, I thought we need sunshine today. We have so much darkness from this pandemic, deep isolation and grief, and it's been really relentless. It's been tiring. It's been exhausting. Oops. There goes my mask. I will grab that in a second and we've struggled to cope. But today, there is light. Thank you. Today, we're together and today we're here to celebrate life. I want to welcome all the families and friends of loved ones lost to COVID-19 who are here today and those who are here in solidarity and also in support. You've endured what no family should ever have to endure. Losing a loved one is never easy. But do not have had the opportunity to say goodbye or to be there during those final days or to come together to mourn has been more torturous and brutally unfair than we could have ever imagined with this pandemic. I lost two loved ones on the same day last winter. While some would say they were lucky, because they didn't ultimately die of COVID, the ability to be there with my family member during her final days was so, so hard. What is worse, coming together to fully honor her life was nearly impossible. I hope today in some small way, we are able to celebrate the lives of so many extraordinary Vermonters from all corners of our state in a way this pandemic hasn't previously allowed us to do. I also hope that ticket today can remind us of the deep importance of compassion and empathy that as Vermonters and community members, we are so good at doing and expressing and embracing. Furthermore, that no matter what is happening across the nation or the world, that in these challenging times, we can be unified in caring for each other and find strength in our common humanity. This means checking in on friends through a text message or a call or just popping by in a safe way to say hello. This means finding time for socially distant walks or hikes or fresh air or just getting out in the sunshine like today. This might mean cooking a meal for a neighbor in need. We must be gentle. We must be patient. We must be supportive. We must be caring. We must continue each of us to do our part to keep ourselves and our families and our community safe. We must also recognize that grief arises in the most unexpected of times. We can't control it and that healing takes time. My sincere hope is that today is the first celebration of life for the Vermonters we've lost and we can find ways as we bring this pandemic to a close to continue to honor their lives. Today we hold these Vermonters and their loved ones in our hearts. Thank you for coming out today and it's now my pleasure to welcome the Vermont State epidemiologist Dr. Patsy Kelso will give some remarks and also some remarks on behalf of Governor Scott. Thank you. The governor couldn't be here today but he asked me to share this statement with you. I'm sorry I can't be there with you today to reflect on the 298 Vermonters we've lost to COVID-19. I want to thank Vermont Interfaith Action for organizing this event as a way to remember those we've lost, not just as a number but who they were and what they meant to their families, friends, and communities. In their honor and to mark today's event I've ordered the State House flag to have staff today. I send my heartfelt condolences to all those who've lost someone to this virus. Losses that were often made worse because of the isolation and separation from our loved ones during the height of this pandemic. As we reflect on the 298 lives lost in Vermont and nearly 700,000 across the nation, I also appreciate your focus on the importance of connection and unity because it's going to take all of us pulling together to help heal from all of the difficulties and loss this pandemic has brought. It's now been about a year and a half since a new virus first descended upon us here in Vermont. We had no idea what living through a pandemic would mean or how much it would change our lives so quickly. Now we know. We have shared in many emotions, fear, stress, isolation, and loss. Whether we suffered from illness or not, COVID-19 has taken much away from all of us. Vermonters' livelihoods, our kids' ability to just be kids, time we could not spend with the people we loved, hugs we couldn't give them. It's affected our lives in so many ways we can't even begin to name. But our deepest loss lies in the lives taken by this disease. Each person who died was a part of a family, a friend, a neighbor and member of our community. Even if we didn't know them personally, all the unique things that made them who they are, as Vermonters, we share in their loved ones' sadness that they are gone. So although this pandemic is not over, I hope today we can take a moment to pause and reflect in a way we may not have done in a while. To think of everything we've been through in our own lives and know that others have been through. To remember our losses and try to heal together. Throughout this pandemic, Vermont's sense of community has been our greatest strength. We've worked together, taken care of each other, trusted one another. I hope we can feel that same support and connection here today and as we go forward. Thank you. I am Father Julian Asouken from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington and I'm assigned here at St. Augustine in Montpelier and St. John's in Northfield. My assignment today is to lead an opening prayer. So I'd like to ask everyone, whether you are here or you're at home listening and joining the celebration or playing or working, I would like to pause. I would like to ask you to pause for some moments of silence as we pray together. Almighty God and Father, we are guided here today as friends and family of our loved ones who departed from this world recently and came into your presence. As we honor our departed brothers and sisters, we thank you for the life that you have given them. It is painful to gather for this season or this reason but in the midst of pain, we give great thanks to you. You have gifted us with the friendship and love of our departed loved ones and as we hold this memorial service, we remember all the good times we have spent with them and recount all the blessings we have received from you through their life. But thank you, Lord, for the gift of life and we commit this time of remembrance to you. We ask you, Lord, for the presence of the Holy Spirit in this place. May you bring comfort to every one of us so that we can be one and are able to mourn as believers. Bless this memorial service. We pray, Lord, and may you be glorified today just as you were by the life of this men and women whom we mourn. But thank you for taking away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us today and mercy on our loved ones who have passed from this life to the next. But thank you for the hope that our dear ones belong to you and will be resurrected when you return in glory. Fill this memorial service with your presence and let your light shine upon our hearts that we may be able to give our last respects lovingly. Let your grace be upon its individual that is in this place and wrap your arms around us and let this memorial service be an instrument of healing and grace. Be our consolation and our strength. We ask all this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Good afternoon. I'm Rabbi Amy Small from Ahavisetic Synagogue in Burlington and it is my charge today to read Psalm 139 and I share it from the translation of renowned biblical scholar Robert Alter. For the lead player, a David Psalm. Lord, you searched me and you know. It is you who know when I sit and I rise. You fathom my thoughts from afar. My path and my lair you winnow and with all my ways are familiar. For there is no word on my tongue but that you, Lord, wholly know it. From behind and in front you shaped me and you set your palm upon me. Knowledge is too wondrous for me. High above I cannot attain it. Where can I go from your spirit and where from before you flee? If I soar to the heavens, you are there. If I bed down in Shaol, you are there. If I take wing with the dawn, if I dwell at the ends of the sea, there too your hand leads me and your right hand seizes me. Should I say, yes, darkness will suave me and the night will be light for me. Darkness will not darken for you and the night will light up like the day. The dark and the light will be one. For you created my innermost parts, wove me in my mother's womb. I acclaim you for awesomely I am set apart wondrous your are your acts and my being deeply knows it. My frame was not hidden from you. When I was made in a secret place, knitted in the innermost depths, my unformed shape your eyes did see and in your book all was written down. The days were fashioned, not one of them lack. For me, how weighty are your thoughts, oh God, how numerous their sum. Should I count them? They would be more than the sand. I awake and I am still with you. Would you but slay the wicked God? O men of blood, turn away from me, who say your name to scheme. Your enemies falsely swear. Why those who hate you Lord, I hate and those against you I despise. With utter hatred do I hate them, they become my enemies. Search me God and know my heart. Probe me and know my mind and see if a vexing way be in me and lead me on the eternal way. Imam Islam of the Islamic Society of Vermont could not be here today but said he would join us now in prayer and sent this statement that he'd like us to read. Our eyes are tearful, our hearts are full of anguish, but we will only say what pleases our Lord. The Quran teaches Muslims to see life's difficult circumstances as a test. They are temporary hardships to strengthen us. Such a perspective allows Muslims to show resilience in times of hardship and tribulation with sufficient strength to make it to the other side intact. From the Holy Quran, O you who believe, seek help through patience and prayers. God is with the steadfast and do not say of those who are killed in the cause of God dead, rather they are alive but you do not perceive. We will certainly test you with some fear and hunger and some loss of possessions and lives and crops but give good news to the steadfast. Those who when a calamity afflicts them say to God we belong and to God we will return. Upon these are blessings and mercy from their Lord. These are the guided ones. And a reading from Psalm 46, the first three verses with a brief reflection. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. I know that the program references me as a pastor of a UCC church for those of you who have programs but I am also a hospice chaplain through Bayata hospice and as such I spend a great deal of time with people who are dying and their loved ones. And having done that for almost a decade and knowing my own grief as I am constantly coming to love people who then inevitably die, I find that I can no longer hear this passage I just read in quite the way I used to. As a young woman Psalm 46 was one of my favorites because it felt like such a solid statement of faith in the face of troubling times. And truly it still is one of my favorites which is saying something. It remains one of my favorites because my deepening acquaintance with death and grief and my appreciation for the strange and beautiful power of grief means that I understand fear and courage in new ways. Therefore writes the Psalmist, we will not fear. Let's be honest living through ongoing global pandemic is a fearful thing. And guess what? Sometimes we will be afraid for ourselves, for our loved ones, for the future. Will our families survive? Will the economy survive? Will our children be able to shed the anxiety they've picked up from all this? Will life ever be easy again? Will pure, ebullient, joyfulness ever come naturally to us again? How can the Psalmist realistically say, therefore we will not fear? And yet I look around here today in front of me and behind me and I see people of deep spirit. And in gathering to remember, I see the raw courage of grief. People of so many faith traditions linked in bereavement, people who are mourning together. Part of my own faith tells me that God is God in relationship. We are God's partners in service to one another and in service to creation and in service to the greatest good. And so I look at my own weary and weary hospice families as I looked at my congregation this morning. And as I look at you right this moment and think of all the loss that is tied up in the over 290 souls who we will be honoring today. And I think God is God in relationship. And because God is God in relationship, we are never alone in our fear. For God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. May our mourning together bring us each and all closer to our refuge and our strength. Amen and amen. Good afternoon. My name is Vertice Robinson and I'm from the Unitarian Church of Montpelier. I've been asked to lead a responsive litany for losses and it is found in the program that you have received and I will read the words of the leader and if you can read the words of the people. We gather mindful of the losses that have multiplied. We may be overwhelmed today by tragedies. Let us also be overwhelmed with the assurance that we are not alone. For many, the pandemic has taken the security of food, shelter and income. For many, this year has robbed us of energy, enthusiasm and our sense of well-being. We honor and remember that each person is precious and whole. Our memorial candle reminds us of the light within each of us, perhaps dim for a time, but always lit, an ember of the holy inside of us. Thank you. I'll invite us at this time to join in a song. It's a simple song that I think you'll catch on to the tune of. It's a song that you can just substitute a word in so the words are meet me here, meet me in my wandering and then we'll substitute in the time of loss, grief and hurt, wilderness, memories and we'll go back to one right here. Music over here to the side. We'll come to the heart of the service where we will read the names of Vermonters who've been lost to COVID. Each one of these names Rep Street presents a whole human being with story, family, circle. So as we read these names, we pray that you will hold these families and friends in your heart. One note is that we have 298 people represented on the COVID dashboard and we have the names of 264 of these. The Vermont Department of Health was able to give us the names of Vermonters who died within the state and we have a couple of extra names of folks who died in other states but the others we will place a flower in the wreath for them even though we can't say their names. And now I begin. The first death was on March 19, 2020. We will read these names in order of death. Perk Bride, Ludlow, Elizabeth LaBombard, Burlington, Michael Johnson, Shelburne, Robert Poulin, Colchester, Joseph Matalo, Burlington, George Winfield, Shelburne, Irene Santulli, Shelburne, Helen Withers, Jericho, Michael Rappold, Jeffersonville, Bernard Parrott, St. Albans, Olivia Duffy, Essex Junction, Leonard Jarvis, Colchester, Harriet Crouchank, Essex, Robert Burdo, South Burlington. The next reader will be Vermont Representative Linda J. Sullivan. David Rysick, St. Albans Town, Rama Roal, Essex, Burton MacGowan, St. Albans, Ronald Taft, Burlington, Cleon Boyd, Wilmington, Franklin Bray, Highgate Falls, Patricia Farnham, Essex Junction, Bernard Bernie Jeskowitz, Barrittown, Neil Pollard, Essex Junction, Leon Boyd, West Dover. Please note that Leon was the twin of Cleon Boyd, who I just mentioned. They were born six minutes apart and passed six days apart. And to their precious family who is here, please accept our love. Evangelus Alvanos, Essex Junction, Thomas Christian Orwell, Margaret Hayes, Williston, Naomi McCullough, Burlington, James Ballin, East Dumberston, Donald Alter, Mortown, Jacqueline Knuck, Burlington, Roger Wilmay, Shelburne, Patrick Pion, West Rutland, Roger Pells, Waterville, Ginger Strickland, St. Albans City, Thomas Reynolds, Burlington, Diana Byrd, Winooski, Stephen Albright, Burlington, Ubert Paradis, Fairfield. The next reader is Vermont Representative Alyssa Black. Dennis Vila, Fairfax, Coralyn Westcott, Burlington, Ivalu Dyke, Burlington, Edna Ball, Shelburne, William Mallow, Burlington, Marilyn Hesford, Essex Junction, Mary Kutcher, Enesburg, Rita Ellis, Winooski, Daniel McVeigh, Essex Junction, Stacy Nelson, Colchester, Teresa Gamash, Burlington, Sandra Anderson, Heinsberg, Johannes Westrick, South Burlington, Susan Morgan, Burlington, Marie Brousseau, Highgate, John Kupfer, Burlington, Laura Gagne, St. Albans City, Chad Rochelieu, Highgate Springs, Melvin Dunster, Waterbury, David Oliver, South Hero, Gertrude Burdick, Orleans, John Zawistowski, Rutland Center, Rita DeSalvo, Rutland City, Michael Nakanjuk, Rutland City, Mary Ann Corkins, Bristol. The next reader is Vermont State Senator Keisha Rom-Hinsdale. Mary Brown, Orwell, Ralph Swatt, Brownington, Thomas Canavan, Rutland City, Charles Ackley, West Brattleboro, Carolyn Lane, Brattleboro, Chester Bray, Highgate Falls, Phyllis Weinrich, South Burlington, Patricia Besat, Hardwick, Wendell Mudgett, Georgia, Joan Rean, Hyde Park, John Dubey, Franklin, Anna White, Enesburg Falls, Donna Besat, Hardwick, Joan Bruins, Burlington, Roger Vachero, Burlington, Norma Reed, Burlington, Michael Smallen, Burlington, Rosaire Robita, Montgomery, Mary Jane Messier, Sheldon, Kerry LaRose, Middlebury, John O'Connor, Essex Junction, Henry Blindow, Derby, Blanche Tetrow, Marshfield, Michael Cassidy, Belvedere, Osman Yero, Burlington. The next reader is Reverend Cannon Walter Brownridge. Frina Phillips Westford, James Williamson Northfield, John Loop Colchester, Wayne Luvier Wienewski, Doris Rodinas, Rutland City, Alice Bruno Burlington, David Foster, Rutland City, Anita Haskins, Burlington, Gloria Lewis, Williamstown, Michael King, Saint Albans, Jane Lane, South Burlington, Margaret Guthrie, Williston, Anne Wilkins, Rutland City, James McCluskey, Georgia, Ruth Feynman, Saint Albans, Lewis Amell, Northfield, Maureen Shepherd Wienewski, Sally More, Bakersfield, Lydia Smith, Berry City, Leona Gutwin, Burlington, Gloria Bancroft, Saint Albans, Diane Menier, Saint Albans, Pauline Dickinson, Bennington, Connie Millett, Burlington, Eileen Bailey, Richford. The next reader is the Reverend Dr. Earl Cooper Camp. Neil Lowell Waterford, Mary Langois, Swanton, Phillip Reed, Berry Town, Morris Bellile, Swanton, Linda Fletcher, Swanton, Yvonne Brown, Saint Albans Town, Arthur Lacherete, South Burlington, Marie Burkhart, North Hero, Pierrette Rose Vidal Muir, Burlington, Smale Graccannon, Burlington, Clarabelle Day, Burlington, Kathleen Connor, Berlin, James O'Donnell, Burlington, Leo LaBerge, Charlotte, Randall McMorris, Bennington, Joan Farrar, Georgia, Richard McMahon, Wienewski, Elizabeth McKinnon, Burlington, Elizabeth Sealy, Essex Junction, Barbara Jones, Burlington, Helen Potak, Craftsbury, Deborah Lee Conrad, Berlin, Pauline Buffard, Burlington, Amalia Melkmova, Burlington, Malcolm Wiel, Wienewski. The next reader is the Reverend Dr. Lynn Buñac. Mary Visiglio Wienewski, Margaret Durham, Pultney, Donald Hyslop Craftsbury, Mark Gagnon, Georgia, Richard Morton, Shelburne, Roseanne Tipal, Wienewski, Laura Jean Smith, Milton, Francis Wagner, Fairfield, Janet Brown Wolf, Shelburne, Shirley LaPlante, Middlesex, Deborah Williams, St. Albans City, Ethel Brosnahan, Brattleboro, Armin Menezer, Colchester, Valerie Morrill, St. Albans Town, Mary Campbell, St. Albans Town, Pauline Bullerys, St. Albans Town, Meg Nott-Sharma, Essex Junction, Chin Ming Chen, Brattleboro, Irene Dodge Wooster, Gerald Calanges Perkinsville, Gerald Brown, Middlebury, Wilford Delisle, North Hero, Marlene Bills, West Wardsboro, John Maffett, Shelburne, Paul Brainville, South Burlington. The next reader is Vermont State Senator Ann Cummings. Louise Lassard, Graniteville, David Wachter, Bennington, Burt Lark, Windsor, Ernestine Lake, Bellows Falls, Juliet Daigle, Eden, Otterson Adone, West Fairley, Harris Brisson, Shoreham, Helen Bundt, Bridgens, Randolph Drexler, New Haven, John Billidoo, St. Albans City, Catherine Morse, Windsor, Kevin MacLennaton, North Bennington, Edith Pearlmutter, South Burlington, Earl Skinner, Rochester, Edith Sargood, Sunderland, Roger Bourne, Bennington, Lal Tamang, Winooski, Lynn Granger, Shelburne, Guy Dionne, Berlin, David Clark, Manchester Center, Barbara Kulp, Burlington, Louise Prozo, Fair Haven, George Mann, White River Junction, Janet Stackpole, Shelburne, Germaine Campania, Winooski. The next reader is Jennifer Olson. Michael Blackburn, Wallingford, Edgerton, Woonsocket, Rhode Island, George Grove, West Newbury, Walter Cross, Richmond, Albert Coyee, Burlington, Roger Dan Halifax, Rita Hammond, Winooski, Peter McDonald, Castleton, Claudia Perry, Waterbury Center, Patricia Beagans, Colchester, my sweet father, Donald Richer, St. Albans, Heather Shepard, Essex, Michael Benway, Milton, Claudine Spencer, Windsor, Carol LaRoe, Pittsburgh, Cynthia Webster, Burlington, David Dean, St. Albans, Russell Longley, Grand Isle, Jean Wolvington Shelburne, Jennifer Rosa Newfane, Renee Prairie Alberg, Sydney Russell Bennington, Peter Labade Pultney, John Spaulding, South Burlington, Ruth Carter Berry, the next reader is Reverend Jenny Anderson, Anthony Audi, Burlington, Catherine Reed, Burlington, Marsha Puro, Rutland City, Ralph Severance, Bennington, Eric Pramuk, Wallingford, Teresa Cooley, West Rutland, and my beautiful mother, Sandra Lee Wooster, Burlington, Carol Gaff, Morrisville, Maryland Papinot, Rutland City, Sharon Buzzel, Irisburg, Benjamin Ross, Essex Junction, Priscilla McKegan, Brandon, Michael Andrews, East Fairfield, Laoda Summer, Rutland City, Edward Pecolonius, Lindenville, Robert Keyes, Wallingford, Charles Jockwish, Irisburg, Bruce Shangra, St. Albans City, Helen Beeson, Paonal, Maryland Russell, Bennington, Madeline Repelt, Windsor, Judith Nardelli, Burlington, Edward Goodwin, West Burke, Elaine Cross, Hinesburg, Gladys Laundrie, Grand Isle, the next reader is the Reverend Susie Webster Tolano, Driscoll Hinesburg, Joseph Brough Colchester, Peter Turner Barton, William Rogers Berry City, Bradley Peavey Barton, David Garrett, Charlotte, Jason Roselle Rutland City, Matthew Fitzgerald, Highgate Center, Lorna Douglas Hartford, Laura Fuller Burlington, Judith Somerville Seersburg, Mary Helen Taft, Essex Junction, Makayla Brown Jericho, Carla Warren Windsor, George Champney Bolton, David Kelly Montpelier, Florence Matthewson, St. John'sbury, Jeanette Culver, Windsor, Robert St. Don, Burlington, Kenneth Stanky, Windsor, Richard Kemp, Berry Town, Diane Fraser Lindenville, Morris Howard Randolph, Elizabeth Sapo Vernon, Marion Harlow Springfield, and Horace Baker Shelburne. The next speaker is CJ King. We've been able to name 264 Vermonters. We have one more to add, Gene Salazar, who died in New York City of Vermonter, who died in New York City. In addition to that, we have been placing flowers in the wreath for 34 other Vermonters that we don't have names of because they died out of state or just in the last couple of days. Let's take a moment of silence now to hold the families in our hearts, to feel a bit of healing for your own struggles through this pandemic, to remember that we are all together, part of this human family and this Vermont family, supporting each other. And may your hearts be filled with compassion. We will, after a moment of silence, we'll listen to some more music by Reverend Carl. Thank you all for coming. Go in peace.