City Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for Youth Memorial

The City of Santa Clarita and the Blue Ribbon Task Force invite the community to the groundbreaking ceremony for the Blue Ribbon Youth Memorial, scheduled for Friday, November 18, at 4:00 p.m. in Central Park, Saugus. The event is being organized by members of the Visions in Progress Youth Advisory Committee. The Santa Clarita Blue Ribbon Youth Memorial is intended to provide a venue where the public can come to remember Santa Clarita youth who have been killed in traffic-related collisions.  It will also serve as an educational tool to create awareness about safe driving habits and deter future deaths on the road. The groundbreaking ceremony will come at the conclusion of Saugus High School’s Every 15 Minutes Program.  Every 15 Minutes is a two-day event, conducted by the Sheriff’s Station, in conjunction with the California Highway Patrol (CHP), Fire Department, and the William S. Hart Union High School District, and featuring a graphic dramatization of an alcohol-related car crash and its aftermath, in which local high school students play the roles of the victims and drunk driver.  The City of Santa Clarita funds the program with support from CHP and various local businesses. When finished, the Youth Memorial will carry a powerful message about the consequences of alcohol/drug use and reckless driving.  The project will feature individual pieces representative of each life cut short by a traffic-related incident.  A central monument will feature a vow urging each visitor to be careful and responsible when driving.  

For more information about the groundbreaking, the Blue Ribbon Task Force, or to include a name to the Youth Memorial, please contact Tess Simgen, Community Services Analyst, at (661) 255-4956.