Washington County comes together to honor Justin Rose

By Dave Ongie

For the students, parents, teachers and staff at Daniel Boone High School, the loss of Justin Rose has loomed large.

Rose passed away last February from injuries he suffered in a car accident at 16 years of age, leaving a void that was still felt by everyone as they returned to campus to start a new school year.

Rose was a fixture in the life of Betty Hartman and her family. He started kindergarten with Hartman’s daughter and hung around the family’s shop on weekends on a regular basis over the years. In the aftermath of Rose’s death, Hartman felt the need to do more for Rose’s family.

“Even after Justin’s passing and the burial and everything, we just knew the family was still struggling with the medical costs,” she said. “I just randomly said, ‘I wish there was something else we could do to help them.’ ”

So Hartman set out to put together a fundraiser that would not only raise money for the family – it would also reflect one of Rose’s passions. Hartman reached out to Jennie Good, and they started putting together the Roundup for the Roses.

“It just came to mind that Justin loved showing cattle,” Hartman said. “I told Jennie that we should have a cattle show in Justin’s memory. It just sort of went from there and grew to adding the other events.”

The fundraiser for the Rose family will be held this Saturday morning at the Fairgrounds in Gray. It will start at 9 o’clock, and activities will include a car and tractor show, an auction, live music, a kids corral, a greased pig competition, craft vendors and food.

Hartman said everyone in the community and in the Washington County School System has chipped in to make the fundraiser a reality. Every school in the system put together a basket for the auction, and several businesses have reached out to offer sponsorship.

“The outreach has been wonderful,” she said. “It’s just been amazing.”

Visit roundupfortheroses.wixsite.com/mysite for more information.