The Amherst Police Department created a memorial on a building in Safety Town honoring a Powers Elementary School student who died in February after complications following a medical procedure. The memorial is dedicated to 6-year-old Julia McCormack, which is located on a newer structure at Safety Town called Julia’s Fairy Garden, that did not have any signage, according to Valerie Cruz, a dispatcher and records manager for the Amherst Police Department. Julia’s family contacted the police department with an idea of creating a memorial of some kind for her in town to best represent her, and ultimately approved the department’s idea of creating a sign to be placed on the building.
“We came up with a couple ideas amongst ourselves, and picked what we thought would be the best,” Cruz said. “I talked to the family and got some ideas of her likes and a little bit about her, and then it just kind of took off from there.” Upon initial planning, Cruz, who has been Safety Town coordinator since 2012, said she and other staffers discussed how to create a sign with colors and icons matching Julia’s personality and things she took an interest in.
Cruz created an idea for the sign, which included a fairy, and took the reins in drawing and painting it for the front of the building, naming the site “Julia’s Fairy Garden.” “It would make it more personal, not only for Julia, but for us as a department,” she said. According to Cruz, learning more about Julia turned m.
