Becky's book
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
GREENFORD -- Rebecca Foerster was riding in a speeding van and saw her life flash before her eyes.
& quot;The driver went too fast over railroad tracks. It was raining, and the van hydroplaned. They swerved and almost lost control, & quot; Lori Foerster, Rebecca's mother, said, explaining why her daughter wrote a poem called & quot;Life. & quot;
Then late last year, Rebecca, a South Range High School sophomore, did lose her life when the car she was in lost control and hit a tree on Beaver Creek Road. A friend, Mandy Mihalik of Salem, died too; another friend, Amanda Shirey, survived.
Shortly after her death, Rebecca's father, Robert Foerster, discovered numerous poems his 15-year-old daughter had written and left behind. He compiled about 50 of them into a book, which he's had published. The finished copies arrived last week.
& quot;I was looking for a name to send a thank-you card, and I found 35 poems in a manila envelope in her yearbook, & quot; Robert Foerster said, explaining how he discovered his daughter's work. & quot;We knew she had poems but not that many. & quot;
Going to a good cause
Foerster plans to put the proceeds from the sale of the books into a scholarship in his daughter's name. After researching how to begin such a fund and contacting several banks, Foerster said the South Range High School treasurer gave him the OK to establish the scholarship.
Set up through the South Range Foundation, the scholarship is to award $500 to one South Range student each year, Foerster said.
He and his wife plan to contribute their share from a benefit horse show, held Saturday at Buckeye Horse Park in Canfield, to the fund. Members the girls' sophomore class ran the concession stands at the show, and those proceeds, and any others from the show are being split three ways among the families of the three girls.
Foerster added that he hopes to keep the scholarship fund in Rebecca's name for 25 years.
His daughter had many talents, including photography and various sports, Foerster said. Despite battling diabetes, she played volleyball, softball and soccer, and won the Junior Athlete of the Week in 2000 for her soccer accomplishments, her dad said.
Rebecca also won several first-, second- and third-place 4-H awards at the Canfield Fair -- many of which still adorn the walls of her bedroom, which is still largely untouched since her death. Rebecca was an eighth-grade recipient of the Golden Key Award, which she won for submitting a pastel painting of a barn door to the McDonough Museum of Art.
Friends remembered
Foerster said he's also grateful to Rebecca's sophomore class for their efforts in hosting a June 12 memorial service for his daughter and Mandy. Several hundred people attended the slide show designed to honor both girls, and some students wrote various messages about Rebecca on a large posterboard on display.
& quot;We appreciate the sophomore class. They did all the work, & quot; he said.
Rebecca's parents said that since her death, they got several puppies, and the animals are helping them through their grief. Having various animals around the house, including Rebecca's goats, is helping them deal with the tragedy, Lori Foerster said.
& quot;[The animals] don't let you get down in the doldrums. They help the healing process along, & quot; Robert Foerster said.
X & quot;My Poems by Becky Foerster, & quot; (1st Books Library) can be ordered online and should be available in area bookstores in about two months.