Children's safety is theme of rally

Parents of victims and Rep. Brown-Waite will be on hand at an event held by the Trilby association.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published May 6, 2005

TRILBY - Kathleen Fink remembers the feeling she got after Tiffany Sessions disappeared in Gainesville in 1989. The 21-year-old University of Florida student has never been heard from again.

"At the time I was 24, and I looked just like her," Fink said Thursday. "When she went missing it struck my heart."

But when 11-year-old Carlie Brucia was killed in Sarasota last year, that's when Fink decided she had to do something.

Which is why the Greater Trilby Community Association will hold a children's safety rally from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Trilby Community Center at 37452 Trilby Road.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office will conduct DNA testing and fingerprinting for children. A memorial garden for victims of some of the area's worst crimes will be established along the nearby Withlacoochee Trail. Magnolia trees will be planted in honor of victims like Sessions, Brucia, Jessica Lunsford, Sarah Lunde, Jennifer Odom and Sharra Ferger.

Sessions' mother, Hillary, will conduct a child safety program. Lunsford's father, Mark, told organizers he'd be there, too. U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Crystal River, will speak about sexual predators.

Roy Brown, whose 7-year-old daughter was abducted from Seffner and killed in 1998, also will be there. So will the family of 8-year-old Zachary Bernhardt, missing from Clearwater since 2000.

"This is for families and children to learn about how to protect themselves," said organizer Denny Mihalinec, the association's chairman and Trilby's honorary mayor.

Fink, the association's vice president, said the event is looking for food donations, food vendors and help with hands-on activities for children. Anyone interested in helping is asked to call her at (352) 583-5973.

[Last modified May 6, 2005, 00:38:16]