Last night was the inaugural mental health benefit gala organized by the Raven Club on behalf of the late Ashton Rook. The effort was led by Mr. Rook’s mother, Miriam Rook, who is also the Raven Club’s president. She was in rare form as she drifted around Raven Hall’s grand ballroom to greet attendees and donors who had come to support the cause.

“Today would’ve been Ash’s 37th birthday,” Mrs. Rook said during her introductory speech. “Unfortunately, he’s not here to celebrate it with us. It’s no secret my son struggled with his mental health. That was all-too-clear to anyone who read his articles in the Gazette. While Emerson Valley has many wonderful qualities, we’re sadly lagging far behind the rest of the country when it comes to treatment options for people suffering from mental health issues. My hope is that Ash’s death isn’t in vain; that maybe some good can come from this awful tragedy.”

Mr. Rook took his own life on May 25th earlier this year. He was a longtime writer for the Emerson Valley Gazette, having joined the staff in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at the Carson Hills Journal from 2011 to early 2014. While at the Journal, he won the Associated Press of Virginia (APV)’s Gregory F. McClain Award for Outstanding Young Journalists in 2012. Many of his peers couldn’t understand why he chose to forego a promising career at a distinguished metropolitan newspaper to work for the Gazette, which served a town one-fifth the size of Carson Hills and had a decidedly more limited reach.

According to Mrs. Rook, her son loved Emerson Valley too much to stay away. “Ash had so much potential. He could’ve done anything,” she told the Gazette during a press interview at the gala. “But he was born and raised here. This town has a way of seeping into your every pore and drawing you back home. Anyone could see he had loads of talent, but it was squandered at your paper—no offense.”

Mrs. Rook believes his work for the Gazette contributed to his severe mental health issues. “Let’s be honest—the kinds of stuff Chuck Donovan had Ash writing wasn’t conducive to a healthy mindset. If I’d known what that monster was really up to, I’d have fought tooth and nail to get Ash away from him. Based on everything that’s come out about him over the last year, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was trying to push Ash over the edge on purpose.”

Charles Donovan, the former editor-in-chief of the Gazette, disappeared a little over a month after Mr. Rook’s passing. He had been under suspicion for the murder of his wife and fellow Gazette staff member Sarah Donovan last April. Although the police had cleared him as a suspect, an investigation into a possible bribery scheme at the lab responsible for matching his DNA to the trace evidence from under his wife’s fingernails caused them to test it again. This time, it appeared to be a match.

There’s been no updates on the search for Mr. Donovan, as the Emerson Valley Sheriff’s Department has had their hands full with a spate of suspicious deaths and disappearances right here in town. Officially, Mr. Donovan is still considered at-large, and a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Emerson Valley magisterial office. There have been no reports that he’s been seen since leaving town in July, which calls into question whether or not he’s still alive. Considering the unfortunate fates of his fellow staff members like Mr. Rook, there’s good reason to believe he’s dead as well.

“I really think my son would still be here if our town had a dedicated mental health clinic with trained professionals who have experience dealing with that sort of thing,” Mrs. Rook continued. “St. Benedict’s psych ward is woefully outdated in both their available facilities and treatment options. You can’t just throw handfuls of pills at someone and send them on their way. Treating mental health issues is an ongoing process that has to evolve along with the patient. Of course, establishing a mental health clinic takes a lot of money, which is ultimately the purpose of tonight.”

Mrs. Rook certainly achieved what she set out to do. The benefit gala brought in a reported $30,000 in donations alone. Other fundraiser efforts at the gala like a silent auction and raffle earned at least another $15,000. Figures provided by the Raven Club indicated the gala cost about $10,000 to organize, so it turned out to be a wildly successful night.

“I think if Ash was here, he’d be overcome with emotion seeing how much his community cares about him,” Mrs. Rook said in the closing moments of her speech. “Even in his darkest moments, he loved this town with all his heart. It would mean a lot to him to know that those feelings were reciprocated.”

Just prior to the gala, the Raven Club announced their plans for funding a state-of-the-art mental health facility in town. It will be named the Ashton D. Rook Mental Health Clinic in his honor. A scholarship focused on helping medical students entering the field of mental health services will also be offered through Emerson Valley University in his memory.

-Quinn Paxton, Acting Editor-in-Chief, Emerson Valley Gazette