WAUKESHA, Wis. — Tyler Pudleiner was one of the first people hit by the SUV that police say suspect Darrell Brooks drove into the Waukesha Christmas Parade in November.
“I was in the Waukesha South Band playing tenor saxophone. I was the fourth one hit, so obviously no warning or anything like that. Out of the blue,” Pudleiner said.
Since the incident, Pudleiner said the outpouring of support from the Waukesha community has been incredible, not just for him, but for all of the victims and families of those hurt and killed.
That support, he said, was visible with the temporary memorial in Veterans Park.
“It’s definitely special to see that... every day. People you know and everything like that can definitely come together to support you and the rest of the community and everything like that,” Pudleiner said.
But, on Wednesday morning, piece by piece, the temporary memorial was taken down. It had been on display for longer than a month to honor the six people who died in the parade tragedy. Winter weather played a key role in that decision.
“I know that there’s a group of people that built a wall to protect it during our windstorm,” said Shawn Reilly, Waukesha's mayor. "We covered it last night. That just can’t continue to happen.”
Bonnie Byrd, the executive director of the Waukesha Historical Society and Museum worked with her team to gather all of the items left at the memorial and separated them by what type of item they were.
Byrd wanted to ensure the items people left in support aren’t ruined.
“We are looking to preserve items not just for the immediate, but looking 20, 50 years into the future,” Byrd said.
Some things, like pictures and letters, will require more preservation work than others.
“But in this circumstance, we know, especially those paper items, have been exposed to a lot of elements and water and freeze-thaw cycles, so those are going to be some of the most vulnerable items we start to conserve here today,” Byrd said."
Reilly knew decommissioning the temporary memorial would take away a place for the community to gather, pray and reflect. So, in January, the city will form a commission with members of the public to work on plans to build a permanent memorial.
He’d like to see plans by the first anniversary of the tragedy, but said there is no timetable just yet.
“It’s nothing you rush. It’s something you take your time with, and you let people talk about how the best way you can memorialize this tragedy,” Reilly said.
Because of how supportive the community has been and the care the crews put into gathering the items to restore from the temporary memorial, Pudleiner is optimistic for the permanent location.
“I have no doubts that it will be taken to the right spot and obviously immortalized forever,” Pudleiner said.