CALAIS – Mothers who understand the fear of loss, joined by local pupils, were on the Ferry Point Bridge on Friday to commiserate with the mothers, fathers and family members rushing to a Saint John, New Brunswick, hospital to see how their youngsters had fared after a serious accident during a school trip to Nova Scotia.

The pupils from the Oak Hill Middle School in Newton, Mass., were on their way to the Gaetz Brook Junior High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The bands from both schools were scheduled to perform Sunday in a joint concert in Musquodoboi Harbour.

The Massachusetts youngsters were six hours from their destination when the bus in which they were riding crashed early Friday on the Trans-Canada Highway near Sussex, New Brunswick, killing four children and injuring others. Forty-two pupils and seven adults were on the bus at the time of the accident; 36 people suffered nonlife-threatening injuries.

The Ferry Point Bridge is the main artery that connects Calais with St. Stephen, New Brunswick.

The Massachusetts pupils had crossed the border at Calais at 2:01 a.m.

Youngsters from the Calais Middle School joined members of the local Lioness Club, a service organization, to place posters and flowers on the bridge in an expression of sympathy with the families.

The posters read: “We’re thinking of You Oak Hill, May God Be With U,” and “Angels in Heaven are watching over you Oak Hill Middle School.”

A bouquet and a wreath of varied spring flowers in pink, purple, white and yellow were placed next to the bridge railing.

Alice Wilkinson, a volunteer art teacher at the Robbinston Grade School, located near Calais, heard about the accident Friday morning and had her pupils create a large banner, which also expressed their sympathy. Their banner read: “Our thoughts are with you.”

Calais High School students also prepared a large banner that they all signed and put on a business located near the border.

“We just felt that some families would be going through here, and we wanted to convey to them that we knew about [the accident] and cared,” Lioness Lorraine Mitchell said. “There is nothing we can do except offer our condolences.”

The organizer of the impromptu display was Lioness Betty Garriott of Robbinston. She said she had received a telephone call from her son-in-law, John Sermersheim, a U.S. Customs officer who works at the Ferry Point Bridge. He thought it would be nice if Calais could somehow show the family members that they understood their grief, she said.

“He said a nice wreath by the border would let people know that we care,” Garriott said.

The service club member said she made some telephone calls, and by 11 a.m., more than 20 people had volunteered to help. She said they all understood what the parents were going through.

“You’d be devastated, because you always think when they [pupils] do leave on these buses, they are going to be safe, and they are going to be back,” she said.

Lioness Leah McLean said all she could think about was the shock the news must have brought.

“How can you even put your brain around something like this? I couldn’t put my brain around losing my child,” she said. “We are here in recognition of what it is to lose a child, and I think that’s a very human thing we all can understand, regardless if we have children or not.”

Kristina Earle, 13, of the Calais Middle School, said she was at the bridge Friday to honor all those children who were either injured or killed.

“I am here because of the accident that happened over in Canada, and I just came here to show my respect,” added Brian Joseph, 14, also of the Calais Middle School.

Parent Lynn Milburn of Calais said she also felt for the parents.

“I’ve sent my kids on a lot of trips, and it was always one of my fears,” she said. “Thank God it didn’t happen to me, but my heart goes out to the families. I don’t know how they are going to cope.”

Calais Middle School teacher Dorothy Gardner said it had been a very difficult morning for the middle school youngsters, who expressed concern over their own upcoming field trip in June.Jan Stanchfield, another Calais Middle School teacher, said the youngsters also put out ribbons.

“We called the Oak Hill school and found out what their colors were, and the ribbons are their school colors,” she said.

The woman with whom they spoke at the Oak Hill Middle School was so moved by the actions of the Calais children that she began to weep.

U.S. Customs Officer Patrick Toth helped the mothers and middle school pupils place the signs on the bridge.

Brewer Superintendent Alan Snell said Friday that a band from Brewer schools left Thursday night on a Cyr Bus Line bus for a music festival in Canada, believed to be the same festival for which the Newton pupils were destined.

Brewer High School Assistant Principal Dan O’Connell confirmed Friday that the high school band was at the same festival. He said he had called the Cyr Bus Line supervisor earlier in the day and was told that the bus driver reported that the Brewer students weren’t involved in the accident.

The students arrived safely at the festival site, O’Connell said.

NEWS staffer Monique Gibouleau and The Associated Press contributed to this report.