‘We will never forget it,’ Utica Gathers to Memorialize Deadly Tornado
Utica unveils new tornado memorial Perhaps fittingly, the Saturday sky was gray and overcast with a biting wind. If anyone in Utica needed a reminder of the life-altering weather 20 years ago, Mother Nature delivered on cue. None of the 100 spectators gathered Saturday in Utica needed any such reminders. Ten lives were lost in the 2004 tornado including Vivian Goetz of Granville. The other nine died in Utica, which bore the worst of the storm. Saturday, Pastor Lloyd Johnson read aloud the nine names while village trustee John Schweickert rang handheld bells. “We will never forget it,” Mayor David Stewart told the throng. A new memorial now stands at the corner of Mill and Church streets, on the parcel where the Milestone Restaurant and Lounge once stood. Eight of the nine Utica victims took cover in the Milestone Restaurant and Lounge and died in its collapse. The wood carving displays an eagle in a somewhat abstract outline. “The artist wanted to leave it open to interpretation so eve