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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Law enforcement officials, volunteers, businesses and individuals who participated in the search for Brigham Young University student Brooke Wilberger will be recognized at an appreciation ceremony on Oct. 11 at Oregon State University.
 
The event, "Brooke Wilberger: What She Means to our Community," will begin at 7 p.m. in LaSells Stewart Center (26th Street and Western Boulevard in Corvallis).
 
Program organizer Tom Sherry, director of the Corvallis Institute of Religion, has been working closely with the Wilberger family, which has expressed support for the event.
 
"With the encouragement of the Wilberger family, the Corvallis community will come together at the LaSells Stewart Center to reflect on the meaning of Brooke Wilberger to so many who gave their heart and soul, their time and other means of support to the Wilberger family," Sherry said. "The entire community is welcome to attend this special evening of appreciation."
 
The program includes appreciation for Benton County Search and Rescue, city, county and state police and the judicial system, as well as businesses and the volunteers who contributed to the effort to find Wilberger, who disappeared from an apartment complex near campus on May 24, 2004. Her body was recovered in late September.
 
The event is being coordinated by Sherry, who is working with Peggy Peirson of Benton County Search & Rescue, and Rev. John Dennis of the First Presbyterian Church, to create the program.