Residents of Carnation came together on New Year’s Eve to find hope in the wake of the worst tragedy the Valley has seen.

More than one hundred people, from the Valley and beyond, attended a candlelight vigil held at dusk Monday, Dec. 31, at the foot of the Carnation city Christmas tree.

Family members joined residents of the Valley to seek healing and remember those killed: Wayne Anderson, 60, his wife Judy Anderson, 61; their son Scott Anderson, 32, his wife Erica Anderson, 32, both of Black Diamond, and their two children, Olivia, 6, and Nathan, 3.

Remembering friends

Participants at the vigil shared their memories of the Anderson family.

“I wasn’t too sure if I could keep it together to speak, but I started remembering about growing up with Scott, and through the tears I had smiles,” said Kristy Trabont-Patriquin, who brought a written sheet of memories about Scott Anderson, a fellow Tolt High School classmate. She decided she wasn’t up to reading it in front of the group, but kept her message anyway.

“We were the last class of Tolt and the first class of Cedarcrest [High School],” Trabont-Patriquin said. “We consider ourselves Tolt.

“From kindergarten to our senior year, Scott was a part of many memorable moments,” she said. Trabont-Patriquin remembers that on their kindergarten bus, Anderson taught her the techniques of making different pitches of amusing but rude noises using a hand under his armpit.

“He’d snicker as our bus driver pointed out that with his chipmunk-like cheeks, he could have made better ones with his hands,” she said. “Those chipmunk-like cheeks have held great smiles and it was apparent that Nathan and Olivia had inherited them, as well.