Flowers and a handmade wooden cross mark where sisters Kristie Petty and Tiffany England’s uncle Buddy Downing took his final breath.
“He was awesome I miss him to death, he was loved by many,” said Buddy’s niece, Tiffany England.
Buddy Downing was hit and killed while riding his bicycle in January on Kitten Trail in Hudson. His memorial is set up next to a Hudson home where he died.
“We go there that’s how we talk to him; his friends go there, his grandkids go there,” said Buddy’s Niece Kristie Petty.
But Lisa Bekiaris who lives in the Hudson home near where the accident took place and the memorial now sits wants to see the memorial go.
“Quite honestly, I’m here every day and I look at it every day,” said Lisa Bekiaris.
Bekiaris was the second scene and remembers the tragic incident like it was yesterday. She said she is been remembering the incident regularly since the family placed the memorial.
“Every time I pull in or pull out it’s a reminder of what I saw that night,” said Bekiaris.
And while Bekiaris says she understands the family’s loss, she believes memorials should only be up for a couple of months.
“Memorials become unsightly, they are not kept up by whoever erects them and then they just inundate the county,” she said.
Bekiaris said she asked the family to remove the memorial after a couple of months but they refused.
In order to avoid further conflict with the family, Lisa decided to take the issue to the county and see whether the county can regulate how long memorials can sit on public or private roads.
Her efforts are upsetting to the Downing’s family who is still grieving his loss.
“That is just disrespectful; all the grandkids go there to mourn over him you know,” said Kristie Petty.