12-02-2010, 04:13 PM
i wonder how many will attend today. i think there will be a lynch mob...oops, i meant to say crowd. 
Hickory Record:
HICKORY --
Although Drum Funeral Home and Cremation Services are no longer holding the Celebration of Life service for Zahra Baker today, they are still expecting hundreds of people to come to their Hickory funeral home.
Drum Funeral Home was initially contacted by Adam Baker and his family to hold a public service for the 10-year-old Australian girl whose untimely death has stirred the public. With photos of Zahra displayed in the media and the circumstances surrounding her death, many in the region feel drawn to Zahra.
There has been an outpouring of grief over her death, first in the shrine in front of the house Zahra lived in with her father, Adam, and her stepmother, Elisa, and then at Christie Road in Caldwell County, where police found her prosthetic leg and a bone police have identified as belonging to her.
The public Celebration of Life ceremony was canceled Tuesday by the family, and changed to a private memorial service that will be held at a later date. However, the public can still come today and tomorrow to sign a guest book and view a memorial tribute slideshow of Zahra.
Visitors who come to sign the guest book will have two to sign — one that will be given to Zahra’s father, Adam, and one that will be given to Zahra’s mother in Australia, Emily Dietrich. To the left of the guest books is a photo of Zahra, larger than life, impishly grinning at the camera while holding up a snake in her hands.
Visitors will also get to watch a video montage, photos from Zahra’s life that the family has put together, said Loretta Kuhn, with Drum Funeral Home. The slideshow is played to “Stuck on You,” by Elvis Presley
and “Flew up to Heaven” by Alan Jackson.
Photos in the memorial tribute show Zahra riding on a motorcycle, diving into a pool, dancing, wearing a cowboy hat, playing putt-putt and bending over, peeking through her legs at the camera. There are images of her with long hair and two legs, and photos of her with her head wrapped in a scarf, pictures of her shortly after she got her left-leg prosthesis.
Through all of the photos, though, she is smiling widely at the camera, not a care in the world. The slideshow ends on a photo of a close up of Zahra facing the camera, playfully sticking her tongue out at the person taking the photo, waving her hands on either side of her face.
Throughout the slideshow, though, there is not a single baby picture or a photo of Zahra in her toddler years.
Drum Funeral Home and Cremations will be open for the community to sign the guest books from 5 to 7 p.m. today and on Friday from 1 to 4 p.m. The chapel, where the video will be playing, seats 200 people and the receiving room holds another 50 or so.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that memorials be made in Zahra’s name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.
Hickory Record:
HICKORY --
Although Drum Funeral Home and Cremation Services are no longer holding the Celebration of Life service for Zahra Baker today, they are still expecting hundreds of people to come to their Hickory funeral home.
Drum Funeral Home was initially contacted by Adam Baker and his family to hold a public service for the 10-year-old Australian girl whose untimely death has stirred the public. With photos of Zahra displayed in the media and the circumstances surrounding her death, many in the region feel drawn to Zahra.
There has been an outpouring of grief over her death, first in the shrine in front of the house Zahra lived in with her father, Adam, and her stepmother, Elisa, and then at Christie Road in Caldwell County, where police found her prosthetic leg and a bone police have identified as belonging to her.
The public Celebration of Life ceremony was canceled Tuesday by the family, and changed to a private memorial service that will be held at a later date. However, the public can still come today and tomorrow to sign a guest book and view a memorial tribute slideshow of Zahra.
Visitors who come to sign the guest book will have two to sign — one that will be given to Zahra’s father, Adam, and one that will be given to Zahra’s mother in Australia, Emily Dietrich. To the left of the guest books is a photo of Zahra, larger than life, impishly grinning at the camera while holding up a snake in her hands.
Visitors will also get to watch a video montage, photos from Zahra’s life that the family has put together, said Loretta Kuhn, with Drum Funeral Home. The slideshow is played to “Stuck on You,” by Elvis Presley
and “Flew up to Heaven” by Alan Jackson.Photos in the memorial tribute show Zahra riding on a motorcycle, diving into a pool, dancing, wearing a cowboy hat, playing putt-putt and bending over, peeking through her legs at the camera. There are images of her with long hair and two legs, and photos of her with her head wrapped in a scarf, pictures of her shortly after she got her left-leg prosthesis.
Through all of the photos, though, she is smiling widely at the camera, not a care in the world. The slideshow ends on a photo of a close up of Zahra facing the camera, playfully sticking her tongue out at the person taking the photo, waving her hands on either side of her face.
Throughout the slideshow, though, there is not a single baby picture or a photo of Zahra in her toddler years.
Drum Funeral Home and Cremations will be open for the community to sign the guest books from 5 to 7 p.m. today and on Friday from 1 to 4 p.m. The chapel, where the video will be playing, seats 200 people and the receiving room holds another 50 or so.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that memorials be made in Zahra’s name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.