Dionte Berry
News Editor
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After the death of senior pre-veterinary major Sarah Townsend, the Murray State community has come together to remember her by planting a tree at the Murray State Arboretum.

The Pre-vet Club  planted a Weeping Extraordinaire tree on Saturday, May 1, in  a  ceremony by the pond at the Arboretum.

Senior veterinary technology majors Cheyenne Chaney and Kylee Hardin led the planting from its conception to the ceremony.

“The week we found out Sarah had passed, I immediately wanted to do something for her and one of the things that came to my mind was planting a tree,” Chaney said. “I posted it to the Pre-vet Club Facebook page and a lot of people jumped on board and thought it was a great idea.”

After gaining the support for the idea the Pre-vet Club contacted professors from the Huston School of Agriculture and dean of the agriculture department at  Carman Pavilion, and they helped the students further making the tree memorial a reality.

Professors were able to get in contact with those working at the Arboretum and they helped the club figure out what tree to pick and where to plant it. 

Chaney and Harden are happy with the progress they have made in creating memorials for Townsend, as they said much of the process was them “winging” it. 

“Once we got the ideas out about planting a tree and making the bench we sent emails to professors in the Huston School of Agriculture, telling them our idea and how we wanted to create a memorial for Sarah,” Harden said. “The professors were on board and Dr. Brannon, the dean of the agriculture department offered to pay for the tree and bench costs and we were very grateful for that.”

Both Chaney and Harden were acquaintances with Townsend as they spent a lot of time with her in class.

“I have had a couple of classes with her, in the vet program once you have a class with someone you tend to see them more because all of our classes are in one building,” Chaney said. “Sarah was one of those that you meet once and then they check up on you and text you all the time to see how you are doing.” 

Harden had a similar relationship to Townsend and that although she has passed, she feels closer to her.

After the large amount of attention and support they have received for memorializing Townsend, Chaney and Harden are happy with the responses they have gotten from the community. 

“It feels really good to have the message spread, and I think it’s really cool how a small community like Murray can come together,” Harden said. “I feel like this is something you read about, but to physically see it gives me hope.”

Close friends of Townsend, members of the Pre-vet Club as well as some of Townsend’s family attended the ceremony

Kate O’Connell, junior pre-veterinary major, was close  with Townsend and helped plant the tree. 

“I love the tree we picked out, it’s going to be really pretty, and they put it in such a pretty spot by the water, she would have absolutely loved it,” O’Connell said. 

O’Connell had many classes with Townsend since they had the same major and the two became friends in fall 2018.

“We met each other on our first day in trigonometry, and we instantly became friends,” O’Connell said. “She sat behind me and she came into class late after a lab she had out in Carman, and so I got her caught up with the icebreakers we were doing.” 

O’Connell described Sarah as a happy bright person who touched a lot of people”

Senior business major Al Lloyd attended the ceremony and helped plant the tree and used similar words to describe Townsend.

“Sarah was a great person, really energetic and always wanted to go do something,” Lloyd said. “She was so consistent when talking with all her friends and she would send you memes on social media forms, and it’s just one of those things I miss a lot.” 

Lloyd met Townsend in 2018 through a friend and she was a part of the reason why he transferred to Murray State. 

“I am glad we were able to come together and agree on something to do to remember Sarah,” Lloyd said. “It feels good to see this happening, and this is only the beginning. We still want to do something in her hometown.”

Townsend’s grandmother, uncle, and two cousins made a trip from Hopkinsville, Kentucky to see the tree be planted. Townsend’s mother attended virtually because of the distance between Murray and Townsend’s hometown of town, state. 

Lynn Hazelrigg, Townsend’s grandmother, heard about the event on Facebook the day before it was to happen.

“I knew they were planning on planting a tree, but I did not know when it would be, and I just happened to run across the invitation on Facebook yesterday,” Hazelrigg said. “It was not a far drive, but I did have to juggle my schedule in order to get here.”

Hazelrigg is a wildlife rehabilitator and runs a wildlife sanctuary center in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Townsend would often help with the rescues.

“She loved the sanctuary,” Hazelrigg said. “She’d bring animals to me from Murray when I would get a call and she had time to get away from class.”

Hazelrigg is thankful for everything that has been done to remember her granddaughter. 

“The campus has been amazingly supportive and we are grateful for that,” Hazelrigg said.

A Weeping Extraordinaire tree was chosen for Townsend. The tree blooms pink flowers in the Spring. 

In addition to the tree, The Pre-Vet Club is still working on two  benches made of recycled plastic bottle caps. Originally, the club intended to build one bench, but after collecting around 873 pounds of bottle caps, they decided to build a second bench. The club plans to put a bench in the Arboretum and at the Carman Pavilion. Bottle caps will continue to be collected at the Carman Pavilion.