Mary and Jim Jarussi entered Olson’s Ice Cream in Chippewa Falls in front of one of five purple benches donated in the area to the memory of Lily Peters, who was killed in April.

Mary and Jim Jarussi entered Olson’s Ice Cream in Chippewa Falls in front of one of five purple benches donated in the area to the memory of Lily Peters, who was killed in April.

CHIPPEWA FALLS — Erica Bertrand was thrilled when she saw the five completed purple benches, built to honor the memory of 10-year-old Lily Peters.

“My heart was just swelling with happiness,” Bertrand said Thursday. “They just blew me away. I felt a very peaceful happiness that we were going to give the community something so nice.”

Bertrand and her co-worker, Samantha Haas, sold hundreds of homemade hair ties and wristbands in Peters’ name, and used the money they collected to purchase five specially-designed benches. They spent hours cutting patterns and making the items. They didn’t expect the high demand.

“We started mailing out bracelets because there is no way we could meet with everyone,” Bertrand said. “We were mailing them out of state.”

“We ended up with $4,000, which is far more than we expected,” Haas added.

Haas said Peters’ grandmother heard about the project, and she contacted them.

“She gave me some ideas of personal places that meant something to Lily, like Olson’s (Ice Cream), the (Ultimate Performance Gymnastics and Cheer) gymnasium and her church,” Haas said.

Haas said they developed the plan to sell the wrist bands and hair ties and purchase the bench in the days after Peters’ death on April 24. They initially were thinking of just one bench.

“I’m very proud of how much more it became,” Haas said. “We thought it was going to be a little gesture to the community. It’s breathtaking that just a few people came together to make this happen.”

Haas said Rachel Meyer of Medford contacted them; Meyer had been selling purple ribbons, and she wanted to donate the proceeds of her sales to their cause. They got in touch with Excel Steel in Stanley, which made the steel benches.

“I gave them an idea of what I was looking for,” Haas said. “We came up with a perfect image of what we wanted.”

The five benches were finished in late August. One bench is going in a private location for the family, and another is headed to Medford.

“They are heavy-duty, steel benches,” Haas said. “It’s powder-coated, so it won’t rust.”

Both Haas and Bertrand are mothers, and neither of them knew Peters or her family. Bertrand now lives in Cadott, but her children attended Parkview Elementary in Chippewa Falls, where Peters went to school.

“I want to tell the whole community ‘thank you’ for supporting us,” Bertrand said.

The suspect in Peters’ death, identified in court records as C. P-B., is charged in Chippewa County Court with first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of sexual assault. He is being held in the Northwest Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Eau Claire on a $1 million cash bond. The next court hearing is set for Sept. 29, when attorneys are expected to set future hearings to debate if the case should remain in adult court or moved to a juvenile proceeding.

Contact: chris.vetter@ecpc.com

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