STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Wood River Valley residents are asked to come together to March for Our Lives to call attention to the “urgent need to address the gun violence sweeping the nation and taking the lives of innocent children.”

The March will be held at noon Saturday, June 11, at Ketchum Town Square.

It is being held in conjunction with a national march on June 11 in Washington, D.C., that has been organized in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, that took 21 lives including those of 19 elementary school students.

Local organizer Ann Christensen noted that her father had been a longtime member of the National Rifle Association in Kentucky where she grew up. But, she said, as an educator she gets emotional when she sees children being gunned down by assault weapons.

She recounted the story of a young Uvalde girl who looked at the pictures of the children who lost their lives in the mass shooting and asked her mother, “What picture are you picking out for me?”

“I am devastated by what is happening to children and we have to do something. We can come together, share our sadness and raise our voices to demand action to protect the most vulnerable,” Christensen said. “As a lifelong educator, I treasure children and wish for them a childhood free of fear and filled with joy. We hope our community will raise our voices on their behalf.”