Cindy Smith wants to paint the town green.
Last year on Oct. 5 her son Sean Patrick Smith was tragically killed when the motorcycle he was driving on Louise Avenue was struck by a vehicle – ending his life at just 26-years-old.
Now, on the one-year anniversary of his passing this Wednesday, his mother is organizing an effort amongst friends and family members to place more than 1,000 green ribbons around Manteca over the course of the upcoming week to honor his memory and the legacy that he left behind.
“He’s remembered for his kindness and his smile – he had the most beautiful smile – and for being the kind of guy that would give his shirt off of his back to help somebody,” Cindy Smith said of her son. “He touched the lives of everybody that he came across and we wanted to do something to honor his memory.”
With the blessing of the Manteca Police Department, Cindy Smith has organized a group of friends who are going to start in the coming days at Woodward Park and place green ribbons with bows around trees and fixtures up and down Manteca’s main streets in honor of her son – who attended Manteca schools and East Union High School before leaving to be homeschooled.
Smith worked at String’s Italian Café before his death – so there will be a concentration of green out on front of their new location on North Main Street – and friends of the family will place a small cross and some candles at the site on Louise Avenue where he was killed.
His parents still haven’t been able to drive down that street since learning the tragic news almost 12 months ago.
The event will be carried by a candlelight vigil on Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. at Woodward Park where friends and family members will be gathered to honor his memory and share stories about the bright and friendly young man who they say was always there to lift them up with a smile or a laugh.
“He had so many things that he liked to do – he loved camping and he loved photography and he grew up shooting guns with my father out at the Manteca Sportsmen’s Club and that’s something that he always enjoyed,” Smith said. “And in the three years before this happened, he started collecting yo-yos and learning how to use them and do all of the tricks.
“He could show you just about any trick in the book because that’s the kind of person that he was – he would find something he liked and he would have to become perfect at it. He was a perfectionist, but in a good way.” 

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.