BELCHERTOWN — In 2012, as Hurricane Sandy thrashed against the Eastern Seaboard, devastating communities from the Caribbean to Cape Cod, Heather Twining and Gloria Fortunato sat together in their Belchertown living rooms and gift wrapped Christmas presents for children in New York’s hardest hit boroughs.
Both mothers to young Boy Scouts, Twining and Fortunato were accustomed to fostering a spirit of service and selflessness in their sons, but decided to step up themselves to raise money for a family on Staten Island who had lost virtually everything to the storm.
“The devastation was great, but Heather — she was capable, she was knowledgeable, she was resourceful, she had a good heart, a quick laugh, a great smile,” said Fortunato. “She’s always been that sort of person, and I don’t think that would surprise anyone who’s known her during these last few years.”
Twining, a special education teacher at Indian Orchard Elementary in Springfield, lost her teenage son to suicide in October 2019. Aaron Twining was 15 years old, a student at Pathfinder Regional Technical High School, when he took his own life, a caring and reserved kid by all accounts.
Since his death — when, in lieu of flowers, mourners were asked to donate to the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide — his mother has dedicated herself to suicide prevention and helping other parents identify signs of mental illness.
“There were no signs with my son, he took his own life and it was a shock to everyone,” said Twining. “He was very caring and sweet, and there were no signs that we might lose him.”
Aaron’s Race 01007 will honor Aaron’s memory with a townwide pinewood derby in the Belchertown High School gymnasium on Saturday, June 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The event will also include a number of outdoor activities, including a super raffle, three Belchertown Police Department K-9 demonstrations, driving-impaired two seater cart demonstrations supported by Massachusetts State Police, an ice cream truck, and a DJ.
“I’m hoping we can spread awareness, there may not be signs with your child, there were none with mine, but we’re hoping people will come and be a part of this hopefully yearly experience,” said Twining, who has planned Aaron’s Race for more than a year alongside Fortunato and a third committee member, her son’s former Boy Scout troop leader Tim Plant.
Aaron didn’t belong to Plant’s troop for very long, but his death left an imprint on Plant, who a year later would stumble onto Aaron’s obituary while searching for his own friend’s death notice.
“One day, I happened to come across Aaron and it just clicked,” said Plant. “The pain of losing someone is maybe not something you want to release in public, the healing process is a private thing, but the idea for the pinewood race came from that moment where it clicked and I saw that this could be an opportunity for healing.”
While attendees can pay to race on the pinewood track or to purchase snacks on site, the price of admission at Aaron’s Race is free. As much as the event aims to raise funds for suicide prevention, it also seeks to galvanize once again the same community that coalesced around Twining’s family in their time of loss.
Volunteers with the Belchertown Lions will collect eyeglasses for their sight program and sell picnic classics — hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, and sodas. Each grade level at Indian Orchard school has already made a gift basket to submit to the super raffle. In addition to booths about mental health and suicide prevention, there will be a memory banner with blank hearts where attendees can write messages of remembrance for Aaron or for the loved ones they’ve lost.
Plant, who lost a friend to suicide several years ago, said he looks forward to leaving a note for his late friend in the memory booth.
“Doing this is a big relief. It helps to relieve sorrow and the weight of a loss,” he said.
