An Article from our local newspaper

Many in the community have been effected...



Published August 23, 2010

Trails should be safe
JANET REED; Tumwater

We have such wonderful bike trails, but are they safe?

There have been a couple of murders, most recently the murder of Vonda Boone. What can we do to make us safe as we are merely going along through our lives and using the facilities that have been put there for us to use?

I would love to ride my bike on the trails but with all the recent news I do not feel they are safe. I have a daughter and boyfriend who use them all the time and I fear for them. Now I am reading that these trails are places for criminals to prey on people.

Can’t we just have a place to enjoy ourselves and not have to deal with being prone to being a victim of crime or death? What is with this society and people preying on innocent people intent on having a good time?

Does this mean we need to be afraid of leaving our house and not use the parks, the trails, etc.? We need more money for our police to protect us from these morons who, for whatever reason want to keep us from having a nice ride through the county.

The police can’t protect us as their budgets have been cut. So now the trails go unused because they are not safe? Please someone give me an answer.

Vanda Boone did not deserve her fate. She was victim and I hope that we all remember her and pray that her attacker meets justice.

Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2010/08/23

Friday August 20th

I hope all of you have had a wonderful day.

Here are some updates.

Merlin still needs a home. I just found out a few days ago that the home Merlin is in, with a loving and caring friend of Vanda’s is temporary. The generous woman already has two large dogs and two cats, and did not intend to keep Merlin permanently.

We are looking for someone who will love and care for Merlin for as long as he is around, preferably in this area; Lori would love to have “visitation rights” to see her friend's cat. He has been through a trying time and needs the stability of a permanent and loving home environment. All of those close to Vanda know how much she loved Merlin, and we want that love to continue with his new “human”. He has his own furnishings and is ready to move in.

Lori is working with the Crime Victims Advocate Office in Olympia. They advise and assist the survivors of such tragedies.
This week she has looked into legal representation, and possible funeral service options.

The Thurston County Coroners Office has not yet released Vanda’s body due to the circumstances of her passing, but it seemed prudent to have options for a service in place for when they do. We are not yet certain what type of service it might be, or when it might be; or even if there will be one, there are still so many unknowns.

The officials in Thurston County are also still searching for any relatives in Brazil, although they have been told numerous times and from all who new Vanda that she had no surviving relatives.

InterFaith Works Blessing Ceremony from Monday the 16th

Hello Everyone,
Following is and article and pictures from Mondays "Moment of Blessing" for Vanda.
I was told that this was the second largest turn out since InterFaith Works began holding these blessings.

The group is gathered at the beginning of the trail at Churchill Road in Tenino Washington.  When I first arrived I noticed that some flowers and cards had already been left by a large rock at the beginning of the trail.  Additional flowers were brought to this gathering and they were left at the place on the trail where Vanda's life was taken. 


This is an excerpt from the Inter Faith Newsletter
The link
http://www.oly-wa.us/Interfaith/Newsletter.php

INTERFAITH CONNECTION
Published Monthly by Interfaith Works, P.O. Box 1221, Olympia, WA 98507
office@interfaith-works.org (360) 357-7224 www.Interfaith-Works.org

Interfaith Works is an association of congregations, affiliated non-profit organizations and individuals. Our purpose is to promote interfaith understanding, and serve the community through charitable, social and educational endeavors.

MOMENT OF BLESSING FOR HOMICIDE VICTIM
Colleagues, friends, and neighbors of homicide victim Vanda Boone gathered in south Thurston County on a hot August afternoon to honor her memory, and rededicate the area along the Yelm-Tenino Trail where she was killed as a place of peace.
About 75 people attended the August 16 nondenominational service, led by Rev. Carol
McKinley and Barbara Gibson, followed by personal remembrances from Boone's friends and consoling words from local residents who did not know her personally but were deeply affected by her tragic death.
Vanda Boone, 60, who relocated to Yelm from New York just six months ago, was employed at Radiance Herbs & Massage in Olympia and was a student at the Ramtha's
School of Enlightenment in Yelm. Police believe she was abducted on August 8 while walking on the Trail and killed soon after. The suspect, who is in custody, did not know the victim. The Rev. Carol McKinley holds the Memory Stick used at Moments of Blessing ceremonies. Ribbons bearing the names of Thurston County homicide victims since 2005 are tied to the stick.

Sharing memories of Vanda

From Silvani from NY
Date: Monday, August 16, 2010, 6:11 PM

Today I met with Ohashi sensei, our shiatsu mentor from Ohashi Institute, the place where I met Vanda.

He was devastated with her death and we talked about her for a long time. And he also recalled how he met her.

He said she will be dearly missed and how she had contributed to this world and that her life was not in vain.

When I told him that she had just turned 60, he though for a moment and then told me how auspicious 5 X 12 = 60

That in japanese, chinese or even tibetan culture the numbers 5 and 12 are very significant.

Twelve meridians, twelve hours, twelve months

Five elements, five stars, five colors

And that we were supposed to live until 120, but if we reach 60 is already good

After 60 ustead of growing older, the numbers start to come down 59, 58, 57...

Until we are reborn again



* I was reflecting on that...



* the below poem was sent by her friend Roger.
Adios

Adios

It is a good word, rolling off the tongue
no matter what language you were born with,
Use it. Learn where it begins,
the small alphabet of departure,
how long it takes to think of it,
then say, then be heard.

Marry it. More than any golden ring,
it shines, it shines.
Wear it on every finger
till your hands dance,
touching everything easily,
letting everything, easily, go.

Strap it to your back like wings.
Or a kite-tail. The stream of air behind a jet.
If you are known for anything,
let it be the way you rise out of sight
when your work is finished.

Think of things that linger: leaves,
cartons and napkins, the damp smell of mold.

Think of things that disappear.

Think of what you love best,
what brings tears into your eyes.

Something that said adios to you
before you knew what it meant
or how long it was for.

Explain little, the word explains itself.
Later perhaps. Lessons following lessons,
like silence following sound.


~Naomi Shihab Nye
from Words Under the Words

August 18th

Hello Everyone,
My name is Judy and I will be managing this post to assist in keeping everyone around the world up to date on what is happening here in Washington regarding Vanda. My goal is to add to the blog daily. I am in contact with Vanda's dear friend Lori here in Washington, and she will assist me in getting info out to you all.
I am being thanked by many for helping in this emotionally challenging time, but as these days have progressed since the tragic circumstances of Vanda's passing, I marvel at the myriad facets of Vanda's life, the outpouring of love and sadness, fond remembrances and generosity.
I have come to realize how most of us only know such a tiny sliver of each others lives, connected by fragile threads, not seeing all of the connections we have made until something in life or death weaves it all together.
I knew Vanda for a short time, through her work at Radiance Herbs and Massage in Olympia and as a fellow student in the Ramtha School. I am now blessed to see the vast wealth of her life coming together, reflected in these many thoughts from all of who loved her that have come forward in this past week.
j

Also Some posts will allow for your commentary, some will not.

Moment of Blessing sponsored by Interfaith Works

MOMENT OF BLESSING

MONDAY, AUGUST 16, AT 5 P.M.

You are invited to take part in a Moment of Blessing

to respond to the homicide of Vanda Boone, 60, a resident of Yelm.

The service will include readings, non-denominational prayers,

and an opportunity for those in attendance to speak if they wish.

A clergyperson, the Reverend Carol McKinley, will preside.

Interfaith Works sponsors Moments of Blessing

in response to cases of homicide,

to reclaim the place of violence as a place of life and peace.

Please join us for this Moment of Blessing,

and invite others to come as well. All are welcome.

To carpool: Meet at 4:15 pm in the Tumwater Safeway parking lot

Near the Mason Jar Restaurant.

Directions to the site: take Capitol Way South, continuing onto Old Highway 99 to

Tenino. In Tenino, turn left at Sussex Ave, which is Highway 507.

Go 0.8 mi. on Hwy. 507 to Churchill Road and turn right.

The parking area for the Chehalis-Western Trail is at this corner.

(From the Tumwater Safeway in Olympia, the distance to the site is 13.5 miles, and

takes about 30 minutes.)

For more information, call Interfaith Works at 357-7224

or 786-8074 or 943-5774

JZ Knight issued this statement Tuesday, August 11th, on behalf of Ramtha's School of Enlightenment

JZ Knight issued this statement Tuesday on behalf of Ramtha's School of Enlightenment.

“We are deeply pained to learn of the tragic death of Vanda Boone and saddened that a murder occurred in our tranquil rural community--a rarity in the Yelm-Rainier-Tenino areas. We support Thurston County detectives to use the best in modern forensic science to convict her killer.

In the absence of next of kin or relatives, Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment will take care of funeral arrangements. Vanda recently moved to the area to be close to the School she loved and the friends she met here. We are disheartened at the loss of any one of our students, but to lose them to homicide is shocking.

We share grief with Vanda’s fellow students, her friends, clients and neighbors. This unfortunate and horrific crime affects us all and many lives will be affected because of Vanda’s passing. We hope this crime will be solved and justice will prevail quickly.”