While they only had two short years with her, the Lamirande family wants the whole community to celebrate their daughter Nora this weekend.
As a way to give back for the outpouring of donations, meals, toys and support, Leslie and Chris Lamirande are hoping to create a foundation in memory of 2-year-old Nora, who was killed May 3 when their home at 25 Naylor Circle in Van Buren caught fire.
Neighbors of the Lamirandes are hosting “For Nora Sophia,” a day of music and family-friendly revelry July 12 at Paper Mill Island.
“We want to celebrate Nora. To only have two years to celebrate … she was such a sweet little girl,” said Erin Razmovski, a neighbor who is helping coordinate the event. “She had such an impact in the neighborhood because she was one of the babies.”
An online fundraiser created for Chris and Leslie Lamirande and their 4-year-old son, Mason, after Nora’s death has racked up $83,000 in donations. Several area eateries also donated a portion of their profits and tips to the family on “Nora’s Night,” held May 19.
And the giving didn’t stop there; the fees for use of Paper Mill Island will be paid by Chuck Marshall, a representative of Stewart’s Shops who happened to be at the Baldwinsville Village Board of Trustees meeting when representatives for the benefit were seeking a reduction.
“The support that they’ve already received is overwhelming. Being able to create the foundation is going to be huge itself. They’ve already started giving back because they’ve gotten so much,” Razmovski said.
From 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, DJ Halz World Order (HWO) will provide the tunes; at 3 p.m. local country act Dirt Road Ruckus takes the stage. Throughout the afternoon, there will be face painting, food, raffles, a photo booth, magicians, clowns and a dunk tank, where revelers will have the chance to dunk local celebrities (whose identities have yet to be announced).
Razmovski said Baldwinsville’s abundance of love and support for the Lamirandes speaks to the community’s close-knit family ties.
“We’re a hometown. We’re middle class America. People who are born and raised here stay here. It’s such a quaint community. Friday night, everybody’s here for the football game and you go to the diner after for fries and a milkshake,” Razmovski said. “Everybody knows everybody. The Lamirandes have grown up here. For [Chris and Leslie] to go to school at Potsdam and get married and come back home [to Baldwinsville], it says something about the community.”
Razmovski said the remnants of the Lamirandes home were torn down recently, and while the “terror of the home is gone,” the road to rebuilding without their little girl is daunting.
“I don’t know that they’ve really had a chance to mourn yet,” she said.
Despite the profound tragedy of losing their daughter, the Lamirandes are looking forward to giving back.
“Something Leslie said to me the morning of Nora’s wake is, ‘There is more good than there is bad,’” Razmovski recalled. “She’s been able to find some light and some peace.”
As for those who want to help, Razmovski said the best thing the people of Baldwinsville can do is “show up and enjoy” Nora’s benefit concert.
For Nora Sophia takes place from 1 to 7 p.m. Sunday, July 12, at Paper Mill Island. Tickets are $10 in advance at facebook.com/fornorasophia or $15 at the door. Children 15 and under get in free.
