The Gunderson family is hoping the sound of children's laughter will fill Megan's Place playground this weekend.
The Queensborough special programs committee and New Westminster's parks, culture and recreation department are teaming up for the Queensborough Children's Festival on Saturday, June 22 from 11: 30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ryall Park, 920 Ewen Ave. in Queensborough.
June 20 marked the 17th anniversary of the death of three-year-old Megan Gunderson, who was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in front of her Queensborough home in 1996. Following her death, the community rallied together to raise close to $100,000 for a new playground.
The first Queensborough Children's Festival was held at Megan's Place tiny tot playground and Ryall Park last year, after the City of New Westminster spent $135,000 to completely renovate the playground and the neighbouring water park. Additional features will be unveiled as part of the grand reopening of the Queensborough Community Centre on July 6.
"That is what pleases the family so much," said Dolly Gunderson, a longtime Queensborough resident and Megan's grandma. "The park is getting more and more beautiful all the time."
The tiny tot playground was created in memory of Megan, who loved her visits to the park.
The Queensborough Children's Festival includes live entertainment, interactive fun and games and a teddy bear picnic.
"It's going to be just wonderful. We have tried to keep it as free as you can. We are going to have some teenage programming as well," Gunderson said. "At Megan's Place, we are having a teddy bear picnic. People can bring their teddy bears."
Two years ago, the New Westminster Police Department held a press conference to appeal to a person who had sent in an anonymous tip regarding the case, as well as the driver. Although police have evidence from the 1996 accident scene and witness testimony, they wanted to speak to an anonymous tipster who had "crucial" new information about the case.
Gunderson said no arrests have been made in connection to the hit-and-run and the family still hopes that will occur so they have some closure to the tragedy.
"It's not that you are every over it, but just to have something concrete," she said. "My son says there is no closure. The bottom line, she is gone."
Each year, family members take flowers to the graveyard where Megan is buried. They also celebrate a happier occasion - the birthday of Megan's older sister Madison.
On the day she was killed, Megan had been gardening with her mother and ran inside to get a hat to protect her blonde head from the sun. The little girl then saw a van that looked like her father's and ran out towards the vehicle, likely thinking her dad was coming home.
Melanie Gunderson, who was pregnant and due that day, delivered daughter Madison a day after her younger daughter's death. Megan also had an older sister Candice, who attended the 2011 press conference with her parents.
"It says a lot about a person when they have the courage to come forward on their own, under such difficult circumstances," Melanie Gunderson said at the 2011 press conference. "It says a lot about the person you are. We are hoping the tipster will help us out once again."
A woman in her mid-to late 30s with brown hair was seen driving a 1990s red Dodge Caravan or Plymouth Voyager at the time of the accident.
