Letter: Appreciating Amherst’s COVID Remembrance Gathering  

By Maria Kopicki

Nearly a hundred people attended the COVID Remembrance Interfaith gathering last Sunday (3/26). It was organized by the Interfaith Opportunities Network as “a chance to grieve with others for the people and things lost from COVID”. 

I went to the Town Common not knowing what to expect, especially as I am not a religious person. Like so many others, our family lost our elder to COVID, before the vaccines and when the medical system was struggling to respond. The large gathering was welcoming, inclusive, non-judgmental, and exuded kindness and caring. It was a place to just be, to remember those we have lost and those who are still affected by COVID, and it brought some sense of resolution that I didn’t even know I was missing. 

The ringing of the bells at the Grace Episcopal Church felt both weighty and uplifting. We honored our lost loved ones by placing a paper with their name into a communal bowl. There were songs, chants, and eloquent words from members of our diverse community, brought together by common pain and loss. 

So, thank you to the members of our community who brought this idea to fruition and who created that space for us to remember.

Below is the program from the event:

Bell Ringing at Grace Episcopal Church to draw people together

Welcome from Interfaith Opportunities Network by Peter Blood (Mt Toby Friends Meeting)

Proclamation by Lynn Griesemer & Pat DeAngelis (Amherst Town Council)

Pastor Mary Smith Gomes (Goodwin Memorial AME Zion Church)

Healing Circle SIngers (based at First Church Amherst)

Representative Mindy Domb

Jennifer Ritz Sullivan (Marked by COVID)

Ruth Love Barer (Jewish Community of Amherst)

Hopping Tree Sangha Chorus 

Omar Abdelaal (Hampshire Mosque)

Kathleen Anderson (National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America N’COBRA New England Chapter)

Reverend Megan McDermott (Grace Episcopal Church)

Katie Tolles (First Church Amherst) & Journey Home hospice choir (to bring forward the names of loved ones)

Pastor Jeffrey Schultz  (Immanuel Lutheran Church) reading Litany written by Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener of Temple Israel in Greenfield

Silent contemplation as Grace Church bells ring

Closing by Pastor Mary

Amherst Area Gospel Choir

Maria Kopicki

Marai Kopicki is a resident of District 5