Tragedy struck our community this week with the death of 29-year-old State trooper Nicholas Clark. People have been supporting the Clark family and the troops in an abundance of ways, but not many of those people are only 7-years-old.

7-year-old Ariel Fekety is honoring Trooper Clark in a very special way.

She’s one of the “rockers” for the Steuben County “Rocks” Facebook group, where artists of all ages paint and hide rocks around the county for others to find, in an effort to unite the community and inspire creativity.

“I like to paint rocks because when people find them it makes their day. And I was very sad about the police officer that died so I painted some rocks to honor him,” Fekety said.

Ariel has hid hundreds of rocks all over Corning, but this particular set held special meaning for her.

The Fekety family met Trooper Clark last year, so the news of his passing hit them hard. They decided to turn that pain into positivity.

“So it became a way of dealing with this tragedy, with our daughter, in a safe way, in a way that is hopefully supportive and positive, turn it into some sort of positive direction,” Curtis Fekety, Ariel’s father, said. 

At only 7-years-old, Ariel already shows that she cares about the people in her community, and she’s ready to make a difference. 

“I’m so proud of her. She wears her heart on her sleeve, she has a huge heart. And her instinct is always to help in any way that she can,” Curtis Fekety said. 

Ariel and I hid her last rock for Trooper Clark together. So hopefully if you can figure out where we are from the video, you can find this special memento for yourself. 

If you find one of Ariel’s rocks, let us know by reaching out to us on Facebook. The Steuben County “Rocks” Facebook group has made a special request for painted rocks to be placed outside of the Bath State Police barracks, where Clark was stationed.