Photo Gallery of Amanda

Details of Amanda Vignere’s accident:

On Thursday, January 8, seventeen teenagers and four adults from the First Baptist Church of Hammond left for McMillan, Michigan, to participate in the Annual Yooper Youth Rally held at Northstar Baptist Church. Brother Brian Hasse, our Senior High Youth Pastor, was overseeing the trip, and Brother Eddie Lapina, our Youth Coordinator, was one of the chaperones. They stopped in Gaylord, Michigan, on their way to the Upper Peninsula to go skiing at the Tree Top Ski Resort. While skiing, there was a tragic ski accident. Amanda Vignere hit a tree and was injured. She later passed away from her injuries. Amanda is the daughter of Scott and Connie Vignere, one of our faithful families at First Baptist Church.

At approximately 7:30 p.m. last night, Amanda was seen by some of the other teens as she was skiing down one of the slopes. The other teens were on a ski lift above her. The slopes closed at 8:00 p.m., and the teens were instructed to meet at the ski rental station to turn in their skis and load the bus. There were about six or seven teens who did not show up at 8:00 p.m. They eventually came in one by one, except for Amanda. Our folks began checking the restroom, the restaurant, and other areas to see if Amanda had come in earlier and was resting somewhere inside. They could not find her, so they filed a missing persons report at about 8:10 p.m. The ski patrol was immediately dispatched. At about 8:30 p.m., one of the patrols on his snowmobile found Amanda just off one of the trails. At that time, Amanda was still alive. They immediately loaded her in an ambulance and rushed her to the hospital. About two minutes before they reached the hospital, Amanda’s heart stopped. The emergency personnel began working on her. They worked on her for about 45 minutes in the Emergency Room, but they were not able to revive her. The ER doctor came out of the ER at around 10:00 p.m. and let Brother Lapina and Brother Hasse know that she had passed away.

Amanda was apparently skiing a groomed slope without difficulty, and then she somehow veered off the slope, hitting her head on a tree that was located about five feet off the trail. The doctor said that the severity of her injuries was due to the speed at which she was travelling. Because of the amount of snow that the Midwest has been getting lately, the slopes were in excellent condition for skiing.

Our pastor, Dr. Jack Schaap, was with Amanda’s parents here in Indiana until about midnight last night helping to make arrangements for the family to go to Gaylord. Scott and Connie, along with their seven other children, drove to Gaylord early this morning and arrived in the Gaylord area at about 7:45 a.m., Michigan time. Only her parents went to the hospital to see Amanda; her siblings stayed at the hotel.

Brother Schaap went to Hammond Baptist High School early this morning to meet with the staff and students there. Amanda was a junior this year, and she was very well liked by both the staff and her fellow students. Brother Schaap, Brother Hasse, and the school administrators are setting up ways to help the high school students cope with this loss.

Please pray for the Vignere family and the entire group that was enjoying this trip with Amanda. She was a member of Brother Brian Hasse’s ensemble, and this trip is the highlight of the year for the ensemble members. Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalized at this time.

For more information, please visit CarePages.com/carepages/AmandaVignere.

STEVE HANLON
Prep Beat

SCHERERVILLE | Neatly dressed, with microphones somewhat hiding their more somber countenances, 16 voices beautifully harmonized on Tuesday morning at the Hammond First Baptist Church. More than 1,000 people listened in, connected to the melody and meaning.

"The eyes of God are upon me. He sees everything I do. The arms of God are around me. He keeps me safe and secure."

The lovely lyrics resonated perfectly. Almost. Yet, it seemed like something was missing. There was. The voice of Amanda Vignere, the 16-year-old Cedar Lake girl who was killed Jan. 8 while skiing in Michigan with the 16 friends who sang at her funeral. Vignere was the 17th member of the vocal ensemble named, "Resolved."

"And he knows where I am every hour of the day. He knows each thought I think. He knows each word I might say. And although there've been times I've been out of His will. I've never been out of his care."

The previous sentence is the name of the song, Amanda's favorite. She loved singing with her classmates at Hammond Baptist High School. Four of them -- Ed Young, Stephen Goodall, Britt Harrell and Chuck Condict -- sang in "Resolved" and were on the ski trip. They are also members of the Swordsmen's talented 18-2 boys basketball team.

"I'll always remember that laugh about her," said Goodall, of Schererville.

"Her smile was amazing," said Condict, a Griffith resident. "She had that smile the last time I saw her."

"On the trip there, we were playing Buzzword and I cheated on the clock," said Young, of Schererville. "We ended up losing anyway. I remember her laughing about it."

Several classmates saw Vignere going down a hill at the Tree Top Ski Resort in Gaylord while they were going up the lift. Somehow, when no one was watching, she went off the path and hit a tree. An hour later she was found, barely alive. Later, her heart stopped.

But her friends know that her song never will.

"She went off that hill and straight into eternity," longtime Hammond Baptist boys basketball coach Fred Mooney said. "This has been tough, but our faith has kept us strong. We know that she's in heaven and that gives us peace."

Brian Hasse, the Senior High Youth Pastor who was on the trip, gathered the remaining students together when the final word came back. At the ski resort, they tried to sing Vignere's favorite song, for her.

"But we didn't make it through," Hasse said.

As they sang on Tuesday morning, their faith -- along with a strong love for Amanda's parents, Scott and Connie and the seven other siblings -- kept them from stopping. They said they felt her voice during the song, and the harmony was absolutely complete.

"It was like she was singing with us from heaven," Goodall said.

Tuesday night the Swordsmen boarded a bus for Lake Zurich for a game against Quentin Road Christian. The players wrote "For Amanda" on one hand and "A.J.V." on the other, her initials. It shouldn't be surprising that the girl who touched so many lives had Joy for a middle name.

"We didn't want to play the game," Mooney said. "But we had to play the game."

The Christian faith that was in all of these players had a simple, yet profound, philosophy. "Don't live for yourself. Live for God and for others." That -- and, of course, remembering that smile -- helped the players lace up those sneakers.

Their legs were as heavy as their hearts, trailing after one quarter and taking a one-point lead at halftime. The players on the bench kept exhorting, "Who are we playing for?" That knowledge propelled a strong second half in a 42-33 win. They said they could almost hear Amanda saying, "You guys better get out there and play hard."

"They didn't play for themselves," Mooney said. "The spirit, the adrenaline, picked us up in the second half. The kids -- I'm so proud of them -- were reaching deep down into their guts. They would not be denied."

Young had a game-high 12 points and 12 rebounds. The defense held Quentin Road to two points in the pivotal third quarter. But this isn't about a game. Not at all. It's about love, family, courage and, most importantly, faith.

"When we're going through a hard time, we know that our Lord is always there," Goodall said. "The grace of God got us through this."

This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach him at shanlon@nwitimes.com.

To listen to the Resolved ensemble sing "I've never been out of His care" at Amanda Vignere's funeral on Tuesday, go to the Hammond First Baptist Church's Web site -- http://www.fbchammond.com/news/amanda_vignere/.

Hundreds Say Goodbye to 16-Year-Old Cedar Lake Teen

BY LU ANN FRANKLIN
Times Correspondent | Wednesday, January 14, 2009

HAMMOND | In her 16-year life, Amanda Joy "Panda" Vignere touched the hearts of many people with her bright smile, her singing, her hard work and her love of God.

On Wednesday morning, hundreds filled the auditorium of the First Baptist Church of Hammond to say goodbye to the Cedar Lake teen who died Thursday evening after she struck a tree while skiing in Michigan with her church singing group. They were on their way to a youth rally in McMillan, Mich.

Prior to the service, video screens throughout the auditorium displayed photos of Amanda with family and friends But, it was the teenager's legacy of kindness and faith that brought classmates, family, friends and strangers to honor her, said her pastors.

During her funeral services, fellow ensemble members sang "About the Cross." Amanda was part of a trio preparing to sing that song at the youth conference, said Johnny Colsten, a longtime associate pastor at First Baptist Church.

"She loved that song," Colsten said. "She was a good girl from a good family."

Jack Schaap, pastor of First Baptist Church, said Amanda's life and her sudden death have inspired many young people to find their own faith.

"Please develop an appetite for God like Amanda did," Schaap said to the youth who attended the funeral, adding that Amanda soaked up all that God could give her like a sponge. "She was rich in her relationship with God."

Letters of condolence and remembrance have poured into the church office since Amanda's death, Schaap said.

"There has been an outpouring of love not only from the church and the community but from around this nation," he said. "This is 16 years of a well-lived life."

Scott Vignere gently stroked his daughter's hair before addressing those attending her funeral. It was something he did with all eight of his children every night, he said.

"She was a precious girl and I am thankful for those 16 years," he said. "One memory I'll always have is when I'd poke my head in her room at night, she'd be reading her Bible. When you leaf through her Bible, nearly every page had a passage underlined. This book was important to her."

Vignere also shared his memories of Amanda spraying on perfume "and stinking up the car on the way to school." On the morning she boarded the school bus for the trip to Michigan, "Panda" hugged her father three times and said "I love you, Daddy," Vignere told those gathered at the church.

The fourth of eight children of Scott and Connie Vignere, Amanda was a junior at Hammond Baptist School and a member of the high school singing ensemble, worker in Blue Denim and Lace and part of Teenage Soul Winning. She was also an active member of the First Baptist Church of Hammond and attended the high school Sunday school department.

Source: NWITimes.com

By Times Staff | Wednesday, January 14, 2009

On Tuesday morning, the Hammond Baptist boys basketball team attended the funeral of Amanda Vignere, the 16-year-old Cedar Lake girl who was killed in a skiing accident in Michigan last Thursday. Four members of the Swordsmen team -- Ed Young, Chuck Condict, Stephen Goodall and Britt Harrell were in a singing group with Vignere, a Hammond Baptist junior, and were also on the trip to Michigan.

The team voted to play Tuesday night's game at Quentin Road Christian in Lake Zurich, and the players dedicated the game -- a 42-33 victory -- to Vignere.

Young had a team-high 12 points and 12 rebounds and was the only Hammond Baptist (18-2) player in double-figure scoring.

Source: NWITimes.com