Langdon unites after loss of life

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

With the ascension of hundreds of vibrant balloons into the sky, Langdon residents stood in silence, hugging, crying, and reflecting on the loss of one of their own – Quinton Peplinski, who lost his life suddenly in a vehicle collision over the weekend.
The Langdon native and a 28-year-old Langdon woman, whose identity has not yet been released, passed away as a result of the accident, while two other individuals were taken to the hospital by air and ground with injuries.
The news of the 19-year-old’s passing pulled at the heartstrings of the community, which suffered the loss of two other young men over the last couple years due to vehicle collisions. The community has since rallied together in support of the victims’ families, setting up donation boxes, organizing a freezer to collect meals, and setting up a GoFundMe page.
“Smaller communities pull together quickly because everybody knows everybody,” said Louise Jefferies, general manager of the Prairie Grounds Coffee House in Langdon.
“There’s always a connection throughout. The coffee house has always been a real meeting place for the community and people feel comfortable and safe there. We help in any way we can with the community and the community as a whole is the same way. That’s the way it works all the time.”
The Prairie Grounds Coffee House is among the Langdon businesses collecting donations and offering up their space as a drop-off location. Several doors down, the Oku Damashi Martial Arts studio also organized a deep freezer to gather meals for the families. Many staff members at the coffee house were friends with Peplinski, and while Lana Ogston, barista at the coffee house, didn’t know him personally, she was only a year ahead of him in school. Having seen Langdon come together in similar situations, she wasn’t surprised at the community’s efforts to help.
“That’s what Landon does as a community,” Ogston said. “I think it just grows the community feeling and especially in Langdon I don’t think it’s something that people really think about, it’s just what people do. When something happens the community just comes together right away, and we’ve seen that time and time again.”
Peplinski attended Langdon Middle School, graduated from Chestermere High School, and played AA hockey in Strathmore. Many of his friends, peers, and teammates gathered at the Langdon Field House parking lot with balloons in hand, comforting each other and remembering their friend. Also in attendance was one of Peplinski’s closest friends and long-time teammate Kyle Rosolowski.
“I’ve known him for a while, we’ve been playing hockey for seven years and he was caring, kind, always fun to be around, just a great guy,” he said.
“It’s good that everybody is there and the family has everybody’s support. I just shows the impact he had on everybody in the community.”
The balloon release took place on March 29, where a song was played in his memory before those gathered released their balloons and stood in silence to honour Quinton Peplinski.
The collision occurred at approximately 7:14 a.m. on March 26, on Highway 797, two kilometers south of Highway 1. Strathmore RCMP with the assistance of the RCMP collision analyst continue to investigate the collision.