As we approach the 8th year since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the City of Hollywood is honoring one of the victims with a trail.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Athletic Director Chris Hixon lived in Hollywood with his family at the time of the mass shooting.
People coming to enjoy Stan Goldman Memorial Park will now pass a memorial honoring Hixon at the beginning of the park’s trail.
“May this walkway remind us all to live with purpose,” Vice Mayor Traci Callari said. “To protect one another and to cherish the beauty and time that we are given.”
Chris Hixon, a navy veteran, made the drive from Hollywood to Parkland every day for a job he loved as athletic director at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
“Chris would, I’m sure he’s just so happy looking down that his legacy and his memory will go on forever,” Debbie Hixon said. “And not because he was murdered on February 14, but because he lived every day before that. He lived as a coach, he lived as a dad, as a husband, as a brother, as a son, as a friend.”
The trail, lined by cypress trees, runs along the water. The City of Hollywood hopes Hixon’s legacy will be remembered with every step.
“You’re remembering them in in the way that they lived,” Hixon said. “That’s really what’s the most important part, because that’s why we miss them, right? Not because someone murdered them. We missed them because they were part of a family that they brought value, the thing, the joy that they had, the things that they like to do, those are the things we miss.
There is a 5k honoring Hixon that will take place in Hollywood on February 21st.
