Garden tour benefits local Moms Demand Action group

GUILFORD — The terms “gun reform” and “garden tour” don’t seem to go together — one may make you think of protests, while the other, quiet reflection.

But today, a private home opens its garden gates to help bring awareness to “common sense” gun reform on the Shoreline. The event will benefit Moms Demand Action, a national gun reform advocacy group with a chapter here.

Homeowner Kathryn Westgard, who will host the gathering, said, “It’s just a family yard garden, but we wanted to invite the community to come and enjoy whatever will be popping up and out and donate to Moms Demand Action while sipping lemonade and noshing cookies served by two excited tikes.”

She added, “Come sit by the pond and melt your cares away, meditate, or do yoga. Come just to say hello and share your garden photos, stories, and expertise. We just wanted to do something to help a terrific organization, and open our borders to old and hopefully new friends. It’s just our hobby and perhaps it can do some good.”

The local chapter of Moms Demand Action formed right after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Guilford mother and chapter cofounder Dawn Carafeno described a heart-wrenching moment at home that led her to take action.

Carafeno recalled a typical morning as she scrambled to get her two young children out the door in time for school. It was midFebruary, and the flurry of the daily routine came to a grinding stop when Carafeno’s 7-year-old daughter inexplicably burst into tears refusing to wear her new, light-up sneakers. “She said to me, ‘I’m afraid that if the bad guy comes into my school he’s going to find me because my shoes are lighting up and flashing. He’s going to kill me and my friends, too.’”

Disturbed by her daughter’s fear about going to school, Carafeno was determined to empower herself and her family.

As Carafeno watched the national gun reform debate vociferously rage on after the Parkland shooting, she said she recognized the importance of tackling this issue in her own community. She discovered Moms Demand Action online, and along with another Guilford mom, Dr. Angela Montgomery, a pediatri-

cian, they formed the new Shoreline chapter.

Moms Demand Action originally began as a Facebook group created in 2012 by Shannon

Watts, an Indiana stay-at-home mom and former communications executive, after the Sandy Hook massacre. Watt’s desire to connect with other moms to combat senseless gun violence soon became a national movement. With chapters in all 50 states. Moms Demand Action is now a powerful group of mothers fighting for public safety measures that respect the Second Amendment and protect people from gun violence.

This past spring, the Shoreline chapter sponsored a BE SMART training session, part of the Everytown for Gun Safety program, which addresses kids, guns and safety.

The SMART acronym stands for: Secure guns in homes and vehicles, Model responsible behavior, Ask about unsecured guns in other homes, Recognize the risks of teen suicide, and Tell peers to be SMART.

And, there is this sobering statistic. According to the Everytown website, everytownresearch.org, “Every year, nearly 300 children age 17 and under gain access to a gun and unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else and nearly 500 more die by suicide with a gun,” quoted from a Center for Disease Control report. The statistics and more can be found at https://everytownresearch.org/child-gun-suicide/and https://everytownresearch.org/ notanaccident/.

This particular issue touches close to home, and in April, the chapter hosted an emotional first meeting with Kristin Song as the keynote speaker. Song’s son, Ethan Song, died in January as a result of gunfire.

“Kristin Song spoke as a survivor. Very raw. It was moving, and it was hard. It was a hard meeting to get through. We got a lot of support, and a lot of people just kept asking to be added to our Facebook group.” said Carafeno.

Montgomery, a pediatrician, was greatly affected by Song’s death, which prompted her to take action.

“I had followed the activities of Moms Demand Action for a number of years following Sandy Hook, but it was only in those days following Ethan's death that I finally reached out to Moms Demand Action to find out how I could get involved,” Montgomery said.

Then Parkland happened and, “With that came an even greater surge of Shoreline community members also looking for ways to get involved in gun violence prevention.”

Garden Opening to benefit Moms Demand Action takes place from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., today, rain date of Sunday, at 205 State St., Guilford.

For information go to momsdemandaction.org.

Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media Dawn Carafeno, of Guilford, left, and Angela Montgomery, of Guilford, are co-leaders of the Moms Demand Action Shoreline Local. Behind them are Bjorn Johnston, 7, left, and his sister, Brynja 5, of Guilford.