The Aurora Historical Society (AHS) is commemorating the anniversary of the shooting at the Henry Pratt Company in 2019 with an exhibit, “February 15: One Year Later” Saturday at the Pierce Art and History Center, 20 E. Downer Place, Aurora.
Featured in the exhibit are the five crosses created by Auroran Greg Zanis for those who died at the hands of a gunman that day. They are Russell Beyer, Josh Pinkard, Vicente Juarez, Trevor Wehner and Clayton Parks. In the exhibit are memorabilia left at the factory gates by well-wishers, and a selection of the hundreds of cards, letters, and posters, sent from all over the country to the Aurora Police Department.
“When you take these all together, you have a portrait not just of a workplace tragedy and shattered families, but of a city full of people who came together to offer support and sympathy, to teach their children to appreciate their protectors, and to regard each other in a new light of understanding and solidarity,” said John Jaros, executive director of the Aurora Historical Society.
The anniversary day of the shooting, Saturday, Feb. 15, the Aurora Historical Society will hold a small ceremony of remembrance at 1 p.m. and conclude with a moment of silence at 1:24 p.m., the time that the first call of a shooting came in to police. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibit will be open from noon to 4 p.m..
The memorial will remain through February 29. Hours are Wednesdays-Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m..
More information is available at www.aurorahistory.net or on Facebook at aurorahistory.
—Aurora Historical Society