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Letter from the Interim President and the Chairman of the Board
Mar 4, 2005 8:00 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
Dear Darlington Family:
These are some of the saddest days of our 100-year history. Most of you know of the tragic loss of two of our ninth-grade boys, Rome day student Clay McKemie and Acworth, Ga., resident student Sean Wilkinson, in a canoeing accident Feb. 26 in the Suwannee Bay area on the West Coast of Florida. We deeply mourn the loss of these two wonderful young men and grieve for their families, and for ourselves. The outpouring of support and condolences from across the Nation parallels the generosity of such emotions we have heard from the Darlington Community.
Clay and Sean were part of a group of eight students participating in an Orr-Treks Outdoor Adventures trip led by Steve Hall (‘75), a 25-year veteran of outdoor education programs. In addition to his Orr-Treks business, Steve has taught English at Darlington the past 12 years and runs the School’s outdoor education program. He has led hundreds of trips over the past quarter-century, including eight previous Orr-Trek trips to Suwannee Bay. Many students from the Rome area, from Darlington, and from around the country have been positively impacted over the years by Steve’s programs. We continue to receive a steady stream of such testimonials from many of his former program and trip participants, and their parents.
After learning on Feb. 27 that Clay and Sean were missing, Darlington representatives (Headmaster David Rhodes, Dean of Students Greg Griffeth, and Head of House Tara Inman) traveled to Suwannee, Fla., to be with the students and their families while search efforts were ongoing. The information in this letter is based on the representatives’ discussions with the trip participants and the authorities handling the search efforts.
Clay and Sean and the rest of the party on the trip departed Darlington Friday afternoon, Feb. 25 as the School dispersed for Spring Break. After driving to Florida, spending the night on the way, they embarked from the boat dock at Suwannee on Saturday afternoon. The group traveled in three canoes, three single-person kayaks, and a “cataraft” (a modified pontoon boat) powered by a 25-horsepower engine. Traveling together, the group proceeded toward their camping destination, Coon Island, located in the bay at the mouth of the Suwannee River. They were around ¼ mile from the island when the outboard motor prop stopped functioning. The motor could not be made operative.
By this point, it was late afternoon and the weather had begun to change with wind and current making travel more difficult. After a brief attempt to paddle the cataraft the remaining distance to the island, this effort was abandoned to allow Steve Hall and one of the strong student paddlers to go assist Sean and Clay, who were always in sight but somewhat behind the rest of the group. The loss of the motor negated the possibility to use the cataraft to collect Clay and Sean.
As darkness ensued, Steve and his assisting student turned on a headlamp; Clay and Sean did the same. The current, again, made it difficult for Steve’s canoe to make progress, and as they moved toward Sean and Clay the light the boys had on went out. At this point, Steve attempted to call for help with his cell phone but could not get a signal. He and his student companion paddled for sometime until Steve obtained an intermittent cell signal and was able to call his wife in Rome, who contacted the Coast Guard to initiate a search.
Without power, the “cataraft” had drifted with the wind and current. The five students, led by volunteer chaperone Bryan Evans (’99), did an admirable job of dealing with the adverse conditions. The group was rescued by a Coast Guard vessel around 3:30 a.m. Steve and his student companion were rescued by helicopter some time later. They were all taken to the small community of Suwannee, where they were embraced by local citizens with warmth and generosity.
All attention from this point forward concentrated on the search for the two missing boys. Poor visibility hindered the effort throughout Sunday. On Monday, a clear day, the sad discovery was made around 11 a.m. of the boys, both deceased, close to their capsized canoe, still wearing their flotation devices and paddling jackets, and the families were informed by the authorities shortly afterwards.
Knowing the close-knit nature of our worldwide Darlington Community and acknowledging the importance of timely and accurate communication in a crisis that impacts us all, the school sent e-mails to faculty, staff and constituents as soon as information was made available. Public information representatives of the Coast Guard were in direct contact with Bruce Watterson, Associate Vice President for Public Relations. Immediately upon receipt of Coast Guard notification, faculty, staff and the community at large were notified of the deaths of Sean and Clay.
There are no words of adequate comfort for Clay and Sean’s families. But even knowing that we have no answers for such tragedies, we are determined to do all in our human powers to support these families, and each other. We know our returning students and faculty will struggle with these losses, as those of us on campus this week have. Counseling professionals will speak to faculty and staff on Sunday to assist us in preparing for the return of students that evening, and on Monday. We will begin the school day on Monday with a gathering in Morris Chapel and inform all that, while we will attempt a regular school day schedule, we will have counselors available in the Chapel throughout the day and will encourage anyone to visit with them as they feel the need. We are specifically determined to provide support to the surviving students, their families, Steve Hall, Bryan Evans, and the Darlington staff members who were on the scene in Florida.
A Memorial Service for Sean and Clay will be held in the Morris Chapel at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 9. This will give us the opportunity to celebrate the lives of these two wonderful young men, whom we miss deeply. Even as we suffer over their loss, we give thanks for the time we were privileged to have with them. They will remain bright beacons in our collective memories.
Sincerely,
James P. Hendrix, Jr.
Interim President
Roby Robinson, Jr.
Chairman, Board of Trustees
These are some of the saddest days of our 100-year history. Most of you know of the tragic loss of two of our ninth-grade boys, Rome day student Clay McKemie and Acworth, Ga., resident student Sean Wilkinson, in a canoeing accident Feb. 26 in the Suwannee Bay area on the West Coast of Florida. We deeply mourn the loss of these two wonderful young men and grieve for their families, and for ourselves. The outpouring of support and condolences from across the Nation parallels the generosity of such emotions we have heard from the Darlington Community.
Clay and Sean were part of a group of eight students participating in an Orr-Treks Outdoor Adventures trip led by Steve Hall (‘75), a 25-year veteran of outdoor education programs. In addition to his Orr-Treks business, Steve has taught English at Darlington the past 12 years and runs the School’s outdoor education program. He has led hundreds of trips over the past quarter-century, including eight previous Orr-Trek trips to Suwannee Bay. Many students from the Rome area, from Darlington, and from around the country have been positively impacted over the years by Steve’s programs. We continue to receive a steady stream of such testimonials from many of his former program and trip participants, and their parents.
After learning on Feb. 27 that Clay and Sean were missing, Darlington representatives (Headmaster David Rhodes, Dean of Students Greg Griffeth, and Head of House Tara Inman) traveled to Suwannee, Fla., to be with the students and their families while search efforts were ongoing. The information in this letter is based on the representatives’ discussions with the trip participants and the authorities handling the search efforts.
Clay and Sean and the rest of the party on the trip departed Darlington Friday afternoon, Feb. 25 as the School dispersed for Spring Break. After driving to Florida, spending the night on the way, they embarked from the boat dock at Suwannee on Saturday afternoon. The group traveled in three canoes, three single-person kayaks, and a “cataraft” (a modified pontoon boat) powered by a 25-horsepower engine. Traveling together, the group proceeded toward their camping destination, Coon Island, located in the bay at the mouth of the Suwannee River. They were around ¼ mile from the island when the outboard motor prop stopped functioning. The motor could not be made operative.
By this point, it was late afternoon and the weather had begun to change with wind and current making travel more difficult. After a brief attempt to paddle the cataraft the remaining distance to the island, this effort was abandoned to allow Steve Hall and one of the strong student paddlers to go assist Sean and Clay, who were always in sight but somewhat behind the rest of the group. The loss of the motor negated the possibility to use the cataraft to collect Clay and Sean.
As darkness ensued, Steve and his assisting student turned on a headlamp; Clay and Sean did the same. The current, again, made it difficult for Steve’s canoe to make progress, and as they moved toward Sean and Clay the light the boys had on went out. At this point, Steve attempted to call for help with his cell phone but could not get a signal. He and his student companion paddled for sometime until Steve obtained an intermittent cell signal and was able to call his wife in Rome, who contacted the Coast Guard to initiate a search.
Without power, the “cataraft” had drifted with the wind and current. The five students, led by volunteer chaperone Bryan Evans (’99), did an admirable job of dealing with the adverse conditions. The group was rescued by a Coast Guard vessel around 3:30 a.m. Steve and his student companion were rescued by helicopter some time later. They were all taken to the small community of Suwannee, where they were embraced by local citizens with warmth and generosity.
All attention from this point forward concentrated on the search for the two missing boys. Poor visibility hindered the effort throughout Sunday. On Monday, a clear day, the sad discovery was made around 11 a.m. of the boys, both deceased, close to their capsized canoe, still wearing their flotation devices and paddling jackets, and the families were informed by the authorities shortly afterwards.
Knowing the close-knit nature of our worldwide Darlington Community and acknowledging the importance of timely and accurate communication in a crisis that impacts us all, the school sent e-mails to faculty, staff and constituents as soon as information was made available. Public information representatives of the Coast Guard were in direct contact with Bruce Watterson, Associate Vice President for Public Relations. Immediately upon receipt of Coast Guard notification, faculty, staff and the community at large were notified of the deaths of Sean and Clay.
There are no words of adequate comfort for Clay and Sean’s families. But even knowing that we have no answers for such tragedies, we are determined to do all in our human powers to support these families, and each other. We know our returning students and faculty will struggle with these losses, as those of us on campus this week have. Counseling professionals will speak to faculty and staff on Sunday to assist us in preparing for the return of students that evening, and on Monday. We will begin the school day on Monday with a gathering in Morris Chapel and inform all that, while we will attempt a regular school day schedule, we will have counselors available in the Chapel throughout the day and will encourage anyone to visit with them as they feel the need. We are specifically determined to provide support to the surviving students, their families, Steve Hall, Bryan Evans, and the Darlington staff members who were on the scene in Florida.
A Memorial Service for Sean and Clay will be held in the Morris Chapel at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 9. This will give us the opportunity to celebrate the lives of these two wonderful young men, whom we miss deeply. Even as we suffer over their loss, we give thanks for the time we were privileged to have with them. They will remain bright beacons in our collective memories.
Sincerely,
James P. Hendrix, Jr.
Interim President
Roby Robinson, Jr.
Chairman, Board of Trustees
