Deerfield Group Dedicates Park Bench To Highland Park Shooting Victims

DEERFIELD, IL — Like other Deerfield residents, Jeff Hagemann has special memories of growing up here and has worked over the years to give back to a community that he says has given so much to him.

Hagemann isn’t alone. He is part of a Facebook group, Friends of Everything Deerfield, that was founded in 2010 and that brings friends together to reconnect with others who may have grown up in Deerfield and who get together to share stories and memories of their time in the village.

But like others who live here, Hagemann has watched as Deerfield’s connection with neighboring Highland Park since the tragic mass shooting that took place at the July 4 parade has bonded the two villages together.

On Saturday, the group will dedicate a bench in Mooney Park that will honor the seven people who were killed in the mass shooting as well as the dozens of others who were injured. The bench features a plaque that includes the words, “Forever Neighbors, Sharing One Heart.”

The group choose Mooney Park because of its proximity to both Deerfield and Highland Park, Hagerman said.

The bench dedication will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Friends of Everything Deerfield raised $3,000 for the bench and also donated $2,700 for the Highland Park Victims First Fund and an additional $1,100 for the West Deerfield Township Food Bank.

The bench dedication is the latest way the Deerfield group has given back to the community, Hagemann, the Facebook group’s administrator said. In addition to helping out the local food bank, the group has adopted a local family to help out during the holidays and has raised money for a friend dealing with breast cancer.

The group had previously also donated a bench in Jewett Park to honor friends who had passed away in recent years.

“So, when tragedy struck Highland Park on July 4th, it was a no-brainer that our group would do something to show support for our neighbors in Highland Park,” Hagemann said.