Posters for event in Leaside girl’s memory removed from public boards
Posted August 18, 2016 4:41 pm.
Last Updated August 23, 2016 10:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
UPDATE: On Aug. 23, 2016, Coun. Jon Burnside told CityNews an Astral Media employee removed posters for the Georgia Walsh Memorial All-Star Games in error. The company has been asked not to touch posters for the event in future.
“It was a very unfortunate incident,” Burnside said. “But the good news is it that it wasn’t anything malicious, it was human error, and it’s being fixed.”
The mother of a six-year-old girl who was killed while crossing a street two years ago says posters for an event in her memory were stripped from public service boards in Leaside.
On Friday, Jillian Walsh posted the notices for the Georgia Walsh Memorial All-Star Games on the boards outside Leaside Library on McRae Drive, on Millwood Road and on Bayview Avenue. When she passed by the boards on Tuesday, the posters were all gone.
She noticed other posters that were up on Friday were still there. Hers were the only ones missing.
“I don’t know why someone would do something like that, especially for an event like this that pays tribute to our daughter, who passed away in this neighbourhood,” she told CityNews.
“It really hit me hard. I was very hurt and angry.”
She was so upset, in fact, she wrote a message to the person responsible in a Facebook post on Wednesday, asking him or her to “have some respect for my family’s attempt to celebrate our daughter’s life.”
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Walsh told CityNews she’s never had any negative feedback about the event, which is now in its second year. It’s raising money for the $1.2-million revitalization of Trace Manes Playground, to thank the community for its support and to pay tribute to Georgia, also the daughter of Conservative Party president John Walsh.
“The community really rallied around us during our time of grief and we want to be able to give back,” Jillian Walsh said.
“I’m trying to channel my pain and our loss as a family into something positive … [Georgia] was a precious girl and she should have had many more years of play in that playground. We were cheated, and she was robbed of a lifetime of play.”
On July 16, 2014, Georgia started to cross the road at Millwood Road and McRae Drive, when she was hit by a minivan turning right. She was taken to SickKids Hospital, where she later died.
The 50-year-old driver pleaded guilty to failing to stop at a red light and careless driving, and council has since banned right turns on a red light at that intersection and voted to lower speed limits in the area.
Jillian Walsh said she replaced the missing posters on Wednesday evening and they were still there the next day.
Coun. Jon Burnside said Astral Media is responsible for maintaining the boards, which are considered street furniture. The last time they cleared them was around 2 a.m. on Saturday.
The baseball tournament takes place on Aug. 27.