Members of the Coppola family continue to turn personal tragedy into a pledge to “Take Action and Spread Kindness.” On Saturday morning hundreds of friends came out to celebrate the grand opening of the Cole Coppola Memorial Fishing Pier at Riverside Park.

The pier is one of several projects undertaken by the Live Like Cole Foundation, founded in memory of Nicholas “Cole” Coppola, whose life was cut short on Sept. 27, 2014, two days after his 16th birthday.

The 100-foot long, T-shaped pier was planned in partnership with the City of Vero Beach and the Florida Inland Navigational District, and built by Wilco Construction.

“I’m just so thankful that everyone has come out here for the ribbon-cutting; that’s the most exciting part,” said Cole’s mother, Elaine Coppola. Pointing to a boat being tied to the end of the pier, she said “that’s the Live Like Cole boat; that’s all he wanted for his 16th birthday. So we bought him a boat and he never got to utilize it.”

Because it’s not used, she said they had problems with the battery and it broke down in the middle of the lagoon – “which is probably Cole making fun of us. It’s my son being silly. He is totally laughing at us.”

“It was pretty funny,” agreed Dr. Nicholas Coppola. “This is the way Cole would have wanted it. Believe me.”

The turnout was replete with youthful exuberance, including many of Cole’s schoolmates and friends, members of the Vero Beach High School Pep Band, and the Storm Grove Middle School cheerleaders.

“To finally see it here, and physically be able to walk on it and touch it and see everyone’s treads, is pretty incredible,” said Melanie Coppola, Cole’s sister and CEO of the foundation. “It’s bittersweet, but it’s more exciting and wonderful than anything else. It’s just a safe place for people to relax and enjoy the wildlife or go fishing.”

“All of you have stepped aboard to make this vision a reality,” said County Commissioner Joe Flescher, at the start of a ceremony. “This is Cole’s day and you all have made it happen.”

“There are a lot of people to thank and there are a lot of wonderful people here today,” said Dr. Coppola, before thanking and highlighting the numerous people involved, some of whom also spoke about the project.

“This is honestly one of the best ways to commemorate my brother and I am so thankful to the city and to all of you guys to help make this a reality,” said Melanie Coppola, closing out the ceremony. “He would completely love and enjoy it and I can already tell that he’s here and he’s with us and he’s so happy.”

After the family cut the ribbon to the pier, supporters searched out the treads they had purchased to honor their own family members as part of the fundraising effort. As of Saturday, there were less than 30 treads available, now available for $500 each.

The foundation will next take on the rebuilding of the hurricane-damaged docks at the Fountains at Royal Palm Point, directly across from the fishing pier. They are also working on a Bike Sharing initiative, providing short-term bicycle rentals to help ease Oceanside parking issues.

For more information, visit livelikecole.org.