A total of 207 county residents have died due to complications of COVID-19.

And a time of remembrance not only for those lives lost but those left to grieve the loss is scheduled for this Saturday at Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church.

The event is set for 7 p.m. and could move outside to General Joseph Warren Park if the weather permits.

As case counts continue to remain low, there are reasons for optimism that we may be on the downside of the pandemic.

“That’s exactly a good reason to have some hope,” Missy Green, who is organizing the event, said. “Hopefully this is going to be the end of it.”

She said the planning started a couple months ago when she “didn’t see the end.”

The event will feature the Rev. Dr. Matthew Scott who, Green said “will be talking about the death that we’ve had” and “use his words of wisdom to comfort us through what we’ve been through for the last two years as far as the deaths go in the county.”

There will then be a period of silence, one second for each COVID-related death.

She said Donnie Rosie will “talk about how (the pandemic) has affected the first responders and essential workers. He has knowledge in that field.”

“(I) want it to be a nice event where people can be cheerful,” Green said. “There’s a lot of things that I think about with the 207 deaths, how that may not have affected all of us personally. What have we become as a society if we can’t grieve another person’s loss?”

She also hopes the event is a “little celebration” of both essential workers and first responders.

“We can’t forget the people that are grieving and will continue to be grieving for a long time,” she said, noting that the pace of the last two years hasn’t provided an opportunity to really reflect.

“If they have a story they want to tell, I want them to be able to do that if they choose to,” Green said. “(I) really think that the county needs it.”