New sidewalks in Levittown show mother's nonstop work in honor of son
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- To most people passing by, these may just look like new sidewalks in Bristol Township. But to Sharon Rearick, these blocks of pavements represent a decade of nonstop work in honor of her son.
"I've been doing the happy dance in the morning between tears," she said.
Officials cut the ribbon on a mile of new sidewalks lining New Falls Road on Thursday.
It's the culmination of work that started in 2012 when Rearick's 23-year-old son John was killed in a hit-and-run on the same road in Levittown. Almost immediately, Rearick went to work fighting for sidewalks to be installed.
Bristol Township council president Craig Bowen remembers the first time she brought her plan to the township.
"If 10 was going to happen and 1 wasn't, I gave it a 1.1," Bowen said.
"They kept telling me it was never going to happen. And you don't tell me it's never gonna happen," Rearick said. "It just makes me dig my heels in deeper."
And dig in she did. Rearick reached out to every state and local official she could and started a community group called Sidewalks Are For Everyone.
"That's all I did. I was always on the computer, always searching for whatever I could find," Rearick said.
All that tireless work paid off. Not only did PennDOT agreed to pay for the sidewalks which will bear her son's name, the project was completed nearly a year earlier than expected.
Officials say the community is a little safer and it's all thanks to Rearick.
"It was amazing how one woman had the energy and determination to put that through," Bowen said.
But for Sharon, this was a labor of love.
"If I save one person in honor of my son, it's worth it," Rearick said.