By Stacee Sledge
When Squalicum High School senior Hannah Dashiell died in a traffic accident on January 5, the entire community mourned.
For those who didn’t know Hannah from school – where she was class vice president and active in cheer, drama, art and much more – or see her often at the Barkley Haggen grocery store she worked part-time, they learned through remembrances by friends and family that Hannah was quick with a smile, genuinely kind, and liked by everyone.
Hannah’s close friend, Lindsey Dunning, was deeply grieving just days after the accident when Dunning’s boyfriend, Alex Powell, suggested a fitting way to honor Hannah’s memory.
Dunning created a fundraising web page with a goal of raising $1,100 for a memorial bench to be placed in Barkley Village in Hannah’s name.
“By the end of the first day, we’d exceeded the goal,” Dunning says. “It was really exciting.”
“It was connected to a memorial page on Facebook that Lindsey made,” says Powell. “I think that’s why so many people chipped in so fast.”
“We got to about $3,200,” says Dunning, “and then we stopped so we could start the bench.”
Another fundraiser in Hannah’s memory continues to raise money, both online and through donations to any Bellingham-area Peoples Bank location.
“One hundred percent of those funds will go to the Hannah Dashiell Memorial Scholarship,” says Powell, “for young girls pursuing a medical career, because that’s what Hannah was going to do.”
The couple was put in touch with Stowe Talbot, owner of the Barkley Company and chairman of Bellingham Cold Storage.
“When Lindsey and Alex first approached me about the placement of a memorial bench near the Haggen store, I wanted to learn more about their project,” says Talbot. “We met and they told me more about Hannah’s story – that she worked at Haggen and was a remarkable young woman.”
Talbot was impressed with Dunning and Powell’s initiative to raise funds for the bench to honor their friend.
They all wanted to see the bench in Barkley Village’s Gazebo Park, but Talbot had spent a lot of effort over the years to design the area with a contemporary aesthetic.
“I was concerned that the bench fit the design of the park, as well as reflect aspects of Hannah’s character,” Talbot says.
Rather than a generic memorial bench, he suggested Joe Clark’s Architectural Elements design and build a custom bench.
“Joe has done several nice projects for us in the Barkley area, and he came up with a great concept,” says Talbot.
“I was pleased that we were able to use our design capabilities for this meaningful project,” says Clark. “It was great to see Hannah’s friends rally to remind everyone what a kind and caring person she was.”
Talbot and Clark agreed to help bridge the funding gap between Dunning’s budget and the total cost of the custom design.
Haggen was also instrumental in the memorial, as Gazebo Park is part of the store’s parcel, owned 50/50 between Talbot’s Barkley Company and the Haggens. “They, of course, are enthusiastic about the memorial bench project, too,” says Talbot.
Kyle Thomas, Industrial Designer at Architectural Elements, worked on the bench’s design.
He and the Architectural Elements team designed and fabricated the benches around the Regal Barkley Village movie theater. They’ve also created various memorials and donor walls around Washington.
“We pride ourselves in our ability to create one-of-a-kind pieces that people can emotionally and aesthetically relate to,” Thomas says.
The design of Hannah’s bench is feminine in shape with elegant flowing lines and visually soft materials.
“Hannah was said to be always smiling,” says Thomas. “The shape of the structure represents a smile when viewed from a downward angle.”
Hannah also collected road turtles, which are used in the design.
“If you look closely, we’ve incorporated some into the design on top of the main bench posts, which will be painted a contrasting color,” says Thomas.
And because Hannah was very social, the circular design of the bench is meant to provoke conversation and interaction between those who use it.
The bench will include a stainless steel plaque in celebration of Hannah’s life, with a border of tea leaf artwork – she loved tea and tea parties – surrounding text from two quotes that reflect this remarkable young woman’s character: “Live With Love” and “She turned her can’ts into cans and her dreams into plans.”
The bench will be installed in mid-June.
