A walk to remember in Lakewood Ranch

All was quiet in the Lakewood Ranch High School courtyard as Shayleen Coyner walked hand in hand with her husband, Scott, and her son Cory.

They were the first to walk on the new Mustang Memorial Walk on Jan. 27. 

Robert Powers, walking next to his mother, Rebecca, followed along with his father, Dan, and sister, Katie, right behind them.

The two families gathered around the six green benches that surrounded a golden trumpet tree.

They quickly formed a group hug comforting one another as they thought about Chase Coyner and Matthew Powers, who died Sept. 15, 2018, in a car accident on State Road 64.

After two years of planning, the families completed their goal of creating a Mustang Memorial Walk in honor of their sons and other students of Lakewood Ranch High School who have died while attending the school.

“It kind of takes your breath away,” Dan Powers said.

Rebecca Powers said the memorial walk is a way to build upon her son’s legacy.

“As a parent who’s lost a child, at least for me, one of the biggest fears you have is, ‘Will they be remembered?’” she said. “They didn’t have the opportunity to build their own legacy or leave a legacy. Something like this, it helps a little bit to know that they will be remembered.”

Before walking the path, Lakewood Ranch High Principal Dustin Dahlquist and Scott Coyner talked about what it took to get to the dedication.

“As we struggle with our own grief, we also realize that their fellow students were also grieving,” Coyner said to the crowd of people that included family members, students and school and district staff members.

Scott Coyner and Dan Powers came together and approached Dahlquist in April 2019 with the idea of a memorial for their sons. They even had a rough drawing of what they imagined.

“I was amazed by the strength and courage and moved by the love they had for their sons,” Dahlquist said. “We concluded that this walkway and bench would be the perfect way to honor their memories and those other students that have been taken from us much too soon.”

After further planning and getting approval from the School Board of Manatee County, the families and school administrators had to figure out exactly what they envisioned.

The granite rock imported from Europe has a plaque to remember all the “Forever Mustangs.”

Rebecca Powers read the inscription on the plaque while pausing to hold back her tears.

“Those we love don’t go away,” she read aloud. “They walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard but always near, so loved, so missed, so very dear.”

The Powers and Coyner families stood around a green ribbon by the entrance to the walkway and watched as Robert Powers and Cory Coyner, who are now both freshmen at Lakewood Ranch High School, cut the ribbon.

Scott Coyner told those assembled that Chase and Cory Coyner were best friends, and Cory Coyner couldn’t wait to start at Lakewood Ranch High School and see the finalized memorial.

“He’s so excited to be able to spend time [at the memorial] and know who this is all for,” Scott Coyner said.

During the ribbon-cutting, the Marching Mustangs played the school’s alma mater.

The alma mater was the last song Matthew Powers, who was a clarinet player in the band, played with the band before his death.

Around 60 members of the Marching Mustangs volunteered to perform at the dedication. To honor their fellow band member, many of the marchers wore a Hawaiian shirt, which was a signature of Matthew Powers who would wear a Hawaiian shirt every Friday.

Members also volunteered to support Robert Powers, a member of the Marching Mustangs.

Come next year, Katie Powers will move on from Carlos E. Haile Middle School and become a freshman at Lakewood Ranch High School, where she too will join the Marching Mustangs.

“Every time I play, it feels like [Matthew Powers] is watching over me,” Katie Powers said.