The Self-Help Center of Casper will conduct its 21st annual candlelight vigil to honor and remember the victims of domestic violence from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. today at Morad Park on Southwest Wyoming Boulevard south of CY Avenue.

The vigil will feature music; an open microphone; refreshments; readings of names of those who have died from family violence; and the "silent witness" display of silhouettes of victims and their names, and how they died, said Self-Hel Center Director Liz Baron

Vigil organizers will distribute teddy bears for the children, too, she said.

Domestic violence recurs through generations as children see their parents and other adults employ their anger and their fists to settle disputes.

When those children grow up, they adopt those same methods in their families, Baron said.

This cycle must be broken, and the Self-Help Center wants to affect change through children so they have violence-free families, she said.

"We want an emphasis on hope and optimism for the youth and breaking the cycle," Baron said.

The vigil concludes with people receiving and lighting candles, singing a hymn, walking to a small boat on a launch ramp to the North Platte River, and placing the lighted candles in holders on the boat.

With all the candles in place, the boat is launched and floats downstream to represent the carrying away of the pain of family violence.

For more information, call 235-2814.

Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at tom.morton@trib.com. Read his blog at tribtown.trib.com/TomMorton/blog