Garden is dedicated to teen killed in crash

Augusta Christian Schools remembered a former student Friday with a dedication ceremony for the Christen Renfro Memorial Garden.

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The sun shined as Christen's family, classmates and educators gathered for the ceremony on the Baston Road campus.

Christen was a 16-year-old Augusta Christian sophomore when she died on her way to school in a single-vehicle crash in January 2004.

She was a member of the school band, French club and volleyball team.

John Bartlett, the school's interim headmaster, said the student council and a number of private donors raised the funds to build the garden.

"I was just very honored, very blessed to have that many friends who wanted to be a part of it," said Christen's father, Chuck Renfro, after the ceremony.

Renfro said he was "stunned, humbled" when Bartlett approached him with the project about a year ago.

He said his daughter likely would have had a different reaction.

"Christen would be so bashful," Renfro said. "She never liked much attention paid to her, so she would probably be embarrassed. But I'm sure she would also be honored."

The garden includes a grassy area, benches, roses, and maple and magnolia trees.

Bartlett said that a member of Trinity-on-the-Hill United Methodist Church built a wooden pergola, which will be covered with wisteria by this fall, in the garden.

He said he hoped the garden will be "a quiet, beautiful place for (students) to come and meditate and rest."