On June 9th, 2015 the hearts of our city were broken as the word quickly spread of an accident that occurred at the intersection of Highway #1 and Highway 791 involving Chestermere youth Jaydon Sommerfeld. A community came together to grieve the loss of Jaydon and to support the Sommerfeld family. But before the wounds could even begin to heal, on July 11th, 16 year old Markus Lavallee lost his life in a horrific accident at the intersection of Highway 817 and Highway 901 about 16 km south of Strathmore.
The communities of Strathmore, Chestermere and surrounding area were overcome by the grief of losing two such amazing young men. Jaydon and Markus were, and will always be, loved by all who had the wonderful opportunity of knowing them.
But in tragedy, there are those that step forward and want to rally the community and help in the healing. So, when Steve Grande, Judi Page, Darlene Doucette and Jody Nakoneshny came together with an idea for a community event that would honour both Jaydon and Markus and help a community to celebrate life, an amazing event was in the works.
Nakoneshny explained, “It started as a conversation about what could we do for everyone to bring people together because there wasn’t one person not affected in some way by this and then when we lost the second young man there was no question, some kind of event had to happen for the community and the youth before summer ended and everyone went back to school”.
And with that, the 1st Annual Life’s Too Shorts event was under way. Many have wondered where the event name came from, some even thinking that it had been a spelling mistake. In fact, Jaydon Sommerfeld tweeted “Life’s too shorts” on June 5th, 2015 and what was laughed at as an autocorrect mistake will now become an event for these communities that will continue on.
In memory of two boys who loved sports so much, the event was started with a ball hockey tournament that took place in John Peake Park. Twenty teams, participated in the tournament that had teams consisting of young and old, boys and girls with spectators lined up rink side to catch all the action. Following the end of the final game, a BBQ was held for the community to celebrate these two amazing boys. Nakoneshny commented, “We fed around 400 people but in the end there were around 1000 that attended the event. Close to $3000 was raised and the families of Jaydon and Markus will decide where to donate the money to”.
Right up there with hockey and lacrosse, a great love of Jaydon’s was cars. So it was decided that a tribute ride was only fitting to make this event complete. “Around 3 in the afternoon, we had 17 people registered in the Tribute Ride. We put out the word amongst people at the event and true to our community, we ended up with 36 cars. It was spectacular! Our RCMP led the way with the sirens and they even stopped traffic so the procession could come through. Some of the coolest cars, engines roaring and among them friends of Jaydon and Markus’ with the #9 and #17 painted on their windows, across the bridge and down through John Peake Park in honor of the two young men. When all the cars parked, Marina (Jaydon’s girlfriend) was given the signal and when she leaned on her car horn, everyone released the 200 balloons. It was absolutely beautiful and there were no dry eyes in the crowd”, described Nakoneshny.
The organizing committee released this statement of thank yous for those that made this event possible:
“To all the local and non-local business’ and families that donated money to make this event free this year.
Trinity Music (formerly Sak’s) and Darryl for the amazing music throughout the day
The group of volunteers, who helped fill in all of the gaps with the finite details and who ran around all day making sure everyone had a great time.
To the participants of the Tribute Ride. You will never know how much seeing you coming across that bridge meant to all of us, especially the families of the boys.
The Hockey Players – You couldn’t ask for a better turn out and seeing you all have fun made it all worthwhile. We hope to see you back next year!
To the Cheering Fans! – Thank you for filling the sidelines and cheering everyone on!
To the RCMP for leading the Tribute Ride and allowing the six extra cars.
The City of Chestermere for the use of the bins, barricades and the park, for mowing the grass the day before, for supplying us with the big white tent.
Nancie, Event Coordinator with the City of Chestermere. We have a new found respect for how much work it is to run these big events and the magic you have making them all happen for our City.
Pinks & Plates, for donating our event insurance.
Kevin Smyth and Molly Doucette, our Paramedic and First Aider, who sat patiently all day long and we are happy to report had a very quiet day in their tent!
CRCA – for loaning us the event tables and additional parking.
Tim Horton’s, donated the Life’s Too Shorts donuts and more water for everyone.
Brett Beninger for giving us a place to hold our meetings at the golf course and for being so willing to help out with the golf tournament. Next year Brett! And to you and Lakeside Greens for arranging the sports memorabilia for the silent auction.
Natalie Flaman for the fantastic face painting.
The Knights of Columbus brought the giant BBQ and cooked the dinner.
Schermerhorn’s, Mills and Doucettes who donated cans of coke and bottles of water.
No Frills supplied us with healthy bananas, apples and more water.
Julie at the General Store that donated the 200 balloons for the release.
Chestermere Anchor City News for advertising the event for us.
Synergy, Parent Link and St. Gabriel Parish for hosting some games to keep the kids busy.
ALSO…a special thank you to our Chestermere Teens. This has been a hard summer for you and we hope in some way that this event was helpful to you before you head back to school. Thank you hanging around with us during the day, thank you for supporting this event and thank you for reminding us, who may have forgotten, what it was like to be young.
Money donated by: Truman Developments, CBRE & Melcor, Lifepath Wellness, EBT Accounting Services, Lakeshore, Halat Family, Laycraft Family and the Knights of Columbus
Please forgive if we have missed anyone at all…There is a saying “Teamwork makes the Dreamwork” and without everyone listed above, this event wouldn’t’ be possible.”
The families of both Jaydon and Markus were overwhelmed with gratitude as they first learned of the event and then watched it build. The Lavallee family said, “There are no words to describe the sudden and unexpected loss of our precious Markus and Jaydon. The pain is crippling and the daily struggle devastating as we try to make sense of these senseless tragedies that took the lives of our beautiful sons. As we try to move forward, our family is eternally grateful for the continuous love and support from Sheri, Kenton and our Chestermere family. In remembering Markus and Jaydon, we know they are smiling and are extremely proud of a community that has lovingly rallied together for such an amazing event, which gives us some comfort knowing their deaths were not in vain. We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of the corporate sponsors, hosts and volunteers, the organizers and committee, media, members of the Chestermere Community we have and will continue to call home, and lastly, the players and their parents. Thank you for participating in the Life’s Too Shorts Memorial Ball Hockey Tournament. This worthy event and the love from which it was conceived is nothing short of amazing. A tribute so beautiful, it is beyond words. Our boys lived with heart, passion, empathy and love. The impact of their lives will live on and continue to touch others forever. It is our hope that this tournament will continue in honor of two young men who spread light to others and made us all better people for knowing them. Thank you for showing your love and support for Markus and the rest of our family. The road ahead will be challenging but knowing we have people to lean on makes us eternally grateful. Thank you always – Shantelle, Derek, Kayla and Isabelle Lavallee”.
The Sommerfeld family was deeply moved by the event and issued the following statement, “When we were first approached with plans for this event it was very emotional, the thought that friends wanted to take the time and make the effort to do something so special was heartwarming for us. So many people have supported us since Jaydon’s accident and this was just another example of that love and support. Seeing 20 street hockey teams ranging from Tyke age kids to parents like us playing just for the fun of it really was what Jaydon and Markus were all about. These amazing young men displayed qualities any parent would be proud of: caring, integrity, love of life, love of family, friendship, and loyalty. Seeing the cars come across the bridge for the tribute ride was especially touching for us. Jaydon absolutely loved cars, the faster and louder the better! The thought that Jaydon’s younger brother, girlfriend and many friends were invited to participate made it even more special.
We weren’t able to make Jaydon’s balloon release on June 10th, so being able to participate on Friday was very special for our family. Seeing the sun poke out from behind the clouds after days of smoky haze just as the balloons were released only confirmed our belief that Jaydon and Markus were with us that day. This day really was about remembering how short life can be and that no one really knows how long they have on earth. We have learned that saying I love you to those close and giving hugs every chance you get, remembering to stand up for what’s right, being a true friend, smiling and laughing because they are contagious are so important for all of us!
We miss Jaydon every minute of every day and know that our lives are forever changed but we know that Jaydon would want everyone who he touched during his short 17 years to continue on, be happy and enjoy every day! Thank You so much to everyone who planned, organized, donated, volunteered, played hockey, bid on silent auction items and revved their cars as they crossed the bridge, our community has once again shown how amazing it is! Our hope is that Life’s Too Shorts will become an annual event for our whole community and that everyone will remember Life’s Too Shorts! – Sheri, Kenton and Brady Sommerfeld”
As these healing communities prepare to send their youth back to school, two boys will definitely be missed, but thanks to the organizers of Life’s Too Shorts, they will never be forgotten. To Jaydon and Markus……’til we see you again.
