We remember

Five years later

Fifth-year Service of Remembrance
Friday, March 2, 2012
Circle of Remembrance

It is hard to accept that this year will mark five years since the 2007 baseball team’s tragic accident on March 2 in Atlanta, Ga.

In honor of the 2007 team, family, friends and the Bluffton University community gathered for a special fifth anniversary Service of Remembrance. The program included a welcome and reflection from President Harder, a scripture readings, a meditation and group litany to honor the lives of Zachary Arend, David Betts, Scott Harmon, Cody Holp and Tyler Williams and celebrate where the surviving members of the 2007 team are today in their lives.

Five years later, Bluffton remembers >>>

On March 2, 2007, the Bluffton baseball team experienced an accident that forever changed the lives of the players, coaches, their family and friends and the Bluffton campus community. While traveling to Sarasota, Fla., the baseball team’s charter bus fell from an overpass in Atlanta, Ga., killing student-athletes David Betts (Bryan, Ohio); Scott Harmon (Lima, Ohio); Cody Holp (Arcanum, Ohio) and Tyler Williams (Lima, Ohio); and the bus driver and his wife. Twenty-eight others were injured. Student-athlete Zachary Arend (Oakwood, Ohio) died one week later.

That single moment changed lives. But from that moment, a sea of moments arose. Hundreds of thousands of moments when complete strangers lent a helping hand. Moments when friends, family and community members gathered to lean on one another. Moments when the Bluffton baseball players, coaches and campus community realized that an entire world outside of Bluffton was supporting them, praying for them, wishing them well.

These words were penned for the Bluffton magazine one year after the accident. They remain words that are no less true now than they were in 2007.

Healing and Hope

In the Bluffton magazine produced a few months after the accident, stories told of the outpouring of support and focused on “Healing and Hope.”

Community redefined, the story of March 2, 2007
Reflections, a reaction to overwhelming support
Reclaiming the season, Bluffton’s student-athletes take to the diamond on March 30

Touching Home

One year later, the campus community again gathered to remember, to reflect, and for the baseball players and coaches to take the field once again for a game that remains unchanged, but will never be quite the same. The magazine produced in spring 2008 focused on remembering, and the importance of “Touching Home.”

One year later, Bluffton remembers
Opening day, the new season begins exactly one year later, March 2, 2008
An artist's perspective, the making of the memorial sculpture “Touching Home”
Bluffton University Memorial Field, photos
Service of Remembrance, the Bluffton community gathers to reflect and to dedicate the Circle of Remembrance

Texts from the one year remembrance event