An open letter to the community:
We would like to offer our heartfelt appreciation to the community of Wellfleet and beyond for their kindness, help and support following the accident that took Miles Tibbetts’s life. While the many acts of generosity extend far and wide, we would like to recognize the members of the fire and police departments, EMT and other first responders who assisted at the accident scene, Rev. Paul Cullity and others from the First Congregational Church of Wellfleet, the staff and volunteers from the Wellfleet Public Library, Hatch's Fish Market, Mac's Seafood, The Juice and Iris Sands. So many others lent a hand or offered comfort during this difficult period and we thank each of you. Miles loved this community and we are touched by your compassion and generosity of heart and time.
Sincerely,
Joyce Tibbetts, George and Cyndi Moe and the extended Tibbetts Family
Multos per annos et multas per memorias vecti
Multos per annos et multas per memorias vectiadvenimus has miseras, amice, ad inferias,
ut te postremo donarem munere amicitiae
et mutam humane adloquerer cinerem,
quandoquidem fortuna nobis tete abstulit ipsum,
heu miser praemature amice adempte nobis.
nunc tamen interea haec, prisco quae more parentum
tradita sunt. Per nos qui te amamus persistes.
accipe amici vota manantia fletu
atque in perpetuum, Miles, ave atque vale.
Wandering over many years and through many memories
we come, my friend, to these sorrowful obsequies,
to present you with the last gift of friendship,
and speak, gently, to your silent ashes,
since fortune has taken your own self away from us
alas, my friend, too early torn from us!
Yet now meanwhile take these offerings, which by the
custom of our parents
have been handed down. Through us who love you, you
will continue to live.
take this vow, wet with tears of a friend,
and for ever, Miles, hail and farewell!
A POEM FOR MILES
This poem that Miles's Latin class worked on is based on one that was written in about 56BC by the Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus. It is numbered as poem 101.
-Sean Mulholland, NRHS Latin Teacher
CHESS/GAME CLUB ANNOUNCEMENT
The brand new Miles Tibbetts Chess/Game club will meet Wednesdays
right after school in N203 from 3–3:50PM. The club bears Miles’ name
to honor his skill and interest in chess and to celebrate Miles’ love
of friendly competition. Come one, come all.
The poem his Latin class worked on is based on one that was written in
about 56BC by the Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus. It is numbered
as poem 101. I have attached our adaptation and also copy the text
below. Please share with Joyce if you feel that is appropriate.
Our tournament will run on November 25 and involve about 40 chess
players or so who will pay to play to raise a little money for the
scholarship fund, but more importantly to honor and remember one of
the sharpest intellects and friendliest souls that ever graced Nauset
High School. With much gratitude for the conversation, Sean
Mulholland
FRIENDS, TATTOOS AND A WHITE BIKE
What is a Ghost Bke?
The white "Ghost Bikes" are meant to be small, somber memorials for bicyclists killed or hit on the street. The first Ghost Bikes were created in St. Louis in 2003. More than 575 bikes have since appeared in more than 200 locations throughout the world. Source: ghostbikes.org
By Mary Ann Bragg
mbragg@capecodonline.com
February 03, 2014
WELLFLEET — Drivers traveling on Route 6 in recent weeks will surely have seen the ghostly white bike propped against the guardrail south of the intersection with Cahoon Hollow Road.
The bike is a memorial to 16-year-old Miles Tibbetts, who was hit in the early afternoon on Aug. 17 as he biked across the highway near there. Rescuers took Tibbetts to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis and then to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, but he died from his injuries, the police said.
Now, two friends, Walter Rowell, 16, and Ray Rowell, 19, both of Wellfleet, have painted a men's racer bike white and locked it to the guardrail west of the spot where Tibbetts was hit, inspired in part by the international "Ghost Bikes" campaign to honor people injured or killed on their bikes.
This week, state Department of Transportation officials plan to remove the bike because they say it is a driving distraction, a threat to visibility and a safety hazard if a car were to hit the bike, and because there have been complaints about the bike.
The grandparents of Tibbetts and the Rowell family, however, want the bike to stay.
"We were hoping it would be up there for a year or so," Tibbetts' grandmother, Cyndi Moe, said last week. Moe also said that the bike serves as the family's only memorial given that Tibbetts was an organ donor and that his remains were cremated. "There is no grave, no tombstone," Moe said. "This is our memorial."
"He lived on his bike," Walter Rowell said Thursday at the bike site.
The white "Ghost Bikes" are meant to be small, somber memorials for bicyclists killed or hit on the street, as a reminder of the "tragedy that took place on an otherwise anonymous street corner, and as quiet statements in support of cyclists' right to safe travel," according to statements at ghostbikes.org.
Typically the "Ghost Bikes" are made primarily of salvaged materials, locked to a sign post and marked with a small commemorative note.
"Ultimately, it has to be removed," state DOT spokesman Michael Verseckes said last week. "It has the potential to block lines of sight, and it also has the potential to be a safety hazard to others." State highway officials are somewhat lenient for a while with a roadside memorial, he said. "Because this is so sensitive, we didn't remove this right away," he said. Rarely are requests made for permanent roadside memorials, and rarely would they be allowed, he said.
State transportation officials have complaints from people in Wellfleet who want it removed, and some people have told DOT officials they want the bike to stay, Verseckes said.
"It does have to have a finite period," Wellfleet Police Chief Ronald Fisette said Friday. "It's very difficult. Right now we're looking to talk to the state. They may ask us to take possession of the bike."
"He was riding his bike across the highway," Moe said last week of her grandson, as she stood near the bike with Rowell and her husband, George Moe, who is Tibbetts' grandfather. "It was a completely flat area, in August, and he got across one lane but didn't make it across the second."
After reconstructing the accident and interviewing witnesses, police decided not to pursue criminal charges against the driver, Dorothy Herold, 76, of Wellfleet. The investigation determined that Tibbetts was not wearing a helmet, Wellfleet police Lt. Michael Hurley said in the days following the accident. State law requires a helmet of all bicyclists age 16 and under.
THE BIKE IS BACK
A "ghost bike" intended to act as a roadside memorial for a
popular teen killed when he was struck by a car while riding
his bicycle on Route 6 last summer is back.
Photo Courtesy of Lezli Rowell
By Patrick Cassidy
pcassidy@capecodonline.com
February 24, 2014
WELLFLEET — A "ghost bike" intended to act as a roadside memorial for a popular teen killed when he was struck by a car while riding his bicycle on Route 6 last summer is back.
The bike, which was painted white and locked to the guardrail in the area near where Miles Tibbetts, 16, was killed shortly before 1 p.m. Aug. 17, was removed early this month after state officials said it posed a potential danger to passing motorists. State and local officials said they did not remove it and it remains unclear who took it away.
Over the weekend, however, the bike was returned to the area, this time on the other side of the guardrail.
"It's not even close to being in the way for anyone or anything," said Lezli Rowell, whose sons, Ray and Walter, both from Wellfleet, had originally painted the bike and locked it to the guardrail.
The brothers were inspired by the international ghostbike.org campaign, which began in 2003 in St. Louis, Mo., meant to honor people injured or killed on bicycles
Tibbetts was hit by a car driven by Dorothy Herold, 76, of Wellfleet, as he crossed the two lanes south of Cahoon Hollow Road about 100 feet west of the Cumberland Farms convenience store, according to police. He later died of his injuries.
Herold was not charged and police said the investigation determined that Tibbetts was not wearing his helmet, as required by state law for bicyclists age 16 and younger.
After the ghost bike appeared locked to the guardrail for the first time in late December, state highway officials said they received complaints and that they planned to remove the bike the first week of February. Somebody beat them to it on Feb. 3, however, and since then more than 1,500 people have signed an online petition seeking to allow the bike to remain.
Rowell said the bike is a way for the community to mourn and is no different from other roadside memorials that state officials have left in place for years.
"That is a symbol of love in the community that is grieving a loss," she said.
The decision on whether the bike would remain in place is up to the state, Wellfleet Police Chief Ronald Fisette wrote in an email on Sunday.
The author of the petition — Natalie Schmitt, 18, of Cambridge — had said she planned to send it to the state Department of Transportation office in Taunton and to DOT Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Richard Davey.
DOT spokesman Michael Verseckes said last week that this is the first time the state has encountered a ghost bike memorial and that, while state officials are sympathetic to any loss of life and the significance of the memorials, roadside safety comes first.
Staff writer Mary Ann Bragg contributed to this report.
Older Postings...
Chess Club Tournament,
Mr. Mulholland
Nov. 25, 2014
Congratulations and thanks to the 61 participants and the student council for their contribution to the 2nd annual Miles Tibbetts Nauset Regional High School Chess Tournament. Jacob Thomas was the first place winner and is now the new Chess King of Nauset High School! Ben McCarthy was the 2nd place finisher and Silas Watkins and Callan McClennen tied for third..
Three hundred and five dollars was raised to support the Miles Tibbetts Scholarship fund. Special thanks to Ariana Kimec, Courtney Milville, Thomas Allen, and Officer Back for their help and administration.
New and Noteworthy...
The Miles A. Tibbetts Scholarship
MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE COMMUNITY
