'I WANT TO SAVE THE FISHIES': Dozens gather for Gulf vigil at Ed Walline Park (PHOTOS)

Former Walton Sun publisher Rick Thomason offers this first-person report on his blog

At 7:40 p.m., 20 minutes before the official start of Tuesday night’s Candlelight Vigil for the Gulf of Mexico, voices of greeting were low and soft. They reminded me of voices at a funeral visitation.

There were smiles, too, as old friends shook hands, but more often embraced…and often for what seemed like more than a hello hug. These were hugs of affection not just for one another, but also for the Gulf they so dearly love.

The crowd gathered on the dune crossover at Ed Walline Park in Santa Rosa Beach.

A small bowl half-filled with water (Gulf water, I’m assuming) held a floating candle. That bowl passed from one person to another, stopping in the cupped hands of each individual for at least a moment. For some, the bowl held its place of reverence longer as words of sorrow…anger…anguish…grief…and even hope, sang into the darkening, humid night.

After one young woman, also seated on the deck, spoke, a tiny little girl – maybe two or three years old? – kneeling beside her reached for the bowl. The silence grew palpable as everyone waited for words of wisdom from the smallest of the attendees.

“Did you want to say something?” asked the woman sitting to her right.

Those big eyes looked into the candle. “I want to save the fishies,” she said in her small voice.

To read the entire blog post and see more photos from the vigil, click here.