Santa Clarita Officials are hosting the 11th annual Youth Grove: Evening of Remembrance on Wednesday, Sept. 7 in Central Park.

The idea behind the event is to raise awareness about the consequences of reckless driving, which will be recognized with a walk, and then a somber ceremony.

Located in SCV’s Central Park, the Youth Grove memorializes local residents age 24 or younger who have lost their lives in car-related crashes, said officials and event organizers.

“We wanted it to be about the kids and for the kids,” said Tom Renolds, who recalled with his wife, Alice, how they lost their sons in a car crash, on KHTS AM-1220 this week. “We wanted to use it as an educational piece… And we like to use that as part of talking to the kids in the community court saying here’s a hundred kids. Almost all of them your age that most likely said, ‘The same thing can’t happen to me.’”

The Renolds lost their two sons, Danny and Timmy, 17 years ago, which motivates them to spread awareness about the consequences of reckless driving, they said.

According to Alice: “They were in a car of five teens. They were back-seat passengers. The driver was driving 100 mph on a regular street. They thought he was racing another car, but they could never really prove it. Lost control. He spun around. Hit the center divider, went upside down, landed on top of another car on the other side, an adult driver, [and] killed the adult driver instantly…Danny, the younger son, was thrown out. He landed about 60-70, feet hit the pavement and was basically killed instantly. The car landed upside down and skidded. Then the middle teenager in the middle, was 16, he crawled out of the car and died instantly, right there. And Timmy just died in the car. He had a seat belt on and Danny did not.”

Perhaps the most heart-breaking reality is the recent additions of names — nine new ones are expected to be recognized at next week’s ceremony.

The Walk of Remembrance will begin at 6:45 p.m. and the Evening of Remembrance Ceremony will begin at 7:15 p.m.

“Time doesn’t heal anything,” said Alice Renolds. “It just kind of lessens the pain.”

The sting hasn’t gone away, but parents like the Renolds are hoping to turn their loss into awareness for others.

“You can’t possibly look at the Youth Grove and see a 100 names,” Tom Renolds said, “and not think that, ‘It can happen and will happen to me, if I don’t drive responsibly.’”

The Youth Grove is located at Central Park, 27150 Bouquet Canyon Road. For more information on the Youth Grove and the Walk of Remembrance, contact the City’s Arts and Events Office at (661) 250-3708 or visit santa-clarita.com/BlueRibbon.