LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) -- A candlelight vigil for the 13 people killed at Columbine High School will be a chance for "the community to come back together again" on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the massacre, one of the organizers said.
The Sunday night observance will be at the Columbine Memorial in Clement Park next to the school in Denver's southern suburbs.
"It is a time for the community to come back together again as they did following the shootings 10 years ago," Kirsten Kreiling, president of the Columbine Memorial Foundation, said Sunday.
No speakers or formal program were planned.
"We decided to leave it unformatted so people could pay honor to the memories of the victims," Kreiling said.
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The high school will be closed on Monday, the anniversary of the attack, and a private service for families is planned that night at the memorial.
Two Columbine students opened fire on the morning of April 20, 1999, killing 12 students and a teacher. About two dozen other people were injured before the gunmen killed themselves.
A steady stream of visitors, mostly alone or in pairs, moved slowly around the memorial as the sun settled behind the Rocky Mountains Sunday.
Wildflowers or florists' bouquets rested on each of the tablets bearing the victims' names. White plastic crosses about 3 feet tall leaned against eight of the tablets.
"I just feel that reverence here, that peace," said Denise rucks, 53, who was visiting from Parker 15 miles south.
Rucks was teaching at Chaparral High School in nearby Douglas County on the day of the attack.
"You get so many different memories, both as a parent -- you look at it from that perspective -- as a teacher. What if it had happened at my school? Would I have been able to protect my students?"
The Columbine Memorial is a broad oval nestled into a hill that overlooks the school. An outer wall, called the Ring of Healing, includes a fountain and quotes from survivors and others, including former President Bill Clinton.
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A smaller inner circle, called the Ring of Remembrance, includes tablets devoted to each of the 13 victims and inscriptions written by their families. A ribbon reading "Never Forgotten" is etched on the walkway in the inner circle.
The memorial cost about $2 million, including about $400,000 in donated materials and services. Clinton, who was president at the time of the shootings, was a major supporter of the memorial, making two trips to Colorado to raise money for the project and donating $50,000 himself.
It was dedicated in September of 2007 with a ceremony that included the release of 213 doves. Sunday's observance was the first such vigil at the site, Kreiling said.
