Walk remembers teens killed by drunk driver

On June 21, 2009, at around 12:40 a.m., Jazmine Houle, and her friend, Caitlin Jelley, both 15, got off a bus on the side of Highway 69 North in Hanmer.

There they met up with Steven Philippe, 16, who had gone to the bus stop to escort the girls home.

Shortly afterward, Nicolas Piovesan, who had been drinking at a Hanmer bar that evening, drove his car into the teens, who were walking along the side of the road, killing them.

Piovesan, then 27, did not stop until he crashed his vehicle into the side of a home. In 2010, he was sentenced to seven years in jail for three counts of criminal negligence causing death.

On June 21, exactly three years after the teens' deaths, the Impact 6/21 Foundation is holding an event in their memory.

The Impact 6/21 Foundation was formed to honour Houle, Jelley and Phillipe's memories and to prevent impaired driving.

“Jazmine, Steven and Caitlin were the kind of kids who would have changed the world, but when Nicolas Piovesan chose to get behind the wheel of his car that night, he took their lives and their future,” according to a statement on a Facebook page for the event.

“Their potential will never be realized.”

A one-kilometre walk will start at 9 p.m. at the Valley East Lions Club hall on St. Joseph Street in Hanmer, and will end at the crash site near Centennial Road. Parking will be available at the hall.

The event will feature music, bagpiping and an inspirational speech. Green and purple glowsticks, representing the teens' “glowing spirits,” will be handed out to participants.

Posted by Arron Pickard