The memorial garden at Bashaw United Church has been a place where community members could come to mourn those they have lost and perhaps, together, come closer to healing.
On Oct. 10, as part of the church’s Sunday morning service, the garden was officially dedicated with the addition of a memorial bench in honour of Sydney Hunter, who passed away suddenly on Jan. 23, 2021, at the age of 20.
“We’re very grateful that the Hunter family shared the bench in memory of Sydney with us,” said pastor Robin King.
The bench is beside the front door of the church.
READ MORE: Remembering Sydney Hunter as told by her three best friends
Over the years, a few pieces of art or other items have been added to the memorial garden to commemorate community members who passed away.
The first was in 2010. A tree was planted a tree in memory of Margaret Thompson by the northwest corner of the church.
In 2012, a bench and bird bath was placed beside the tree in memory of Paul “The Church Guy” Hammerberg.
“Recently, we decided to tidy that corner up and make it a little more attractive; make it something that would honour those memorials and provide a place that people might notice and pause for a moment to remember,” said King.
Grant Mackenzie did the work to create the garden space.
An artful centrepiece — a wooden sculpture with stained glass elements — that was created for the garden, but not dedicated to any specific individual, was also recently added. Fern Bolduc created the glass art and Dwayne Bamber did the wood work.
The church had previously placed large angel wings on a board on the corner of the building as part of their annual “Angels Among Us” community project.
“We decided to make it permanent as part of this project and asked Kyle Simmers to paint it on the building,” said King.
“At the dedication, we described the wings as overlooking the memorials, as angels do.”
It was a small crowd who came out to the dedication, physically distancing to follow COVID-19 protocols, and braving the brisk weather.
“When we went outside that day, the weather had suddenly changed to overcast, cold and windy and that’s a very windy corner. Everyone stayed,” said King.
“At the dedication, I said a few words of introduction and said that this time of year might seem to not be the best time to dedicate a garden, but we do so remembering that there is always hope for the spring, just as we have hope for new life for all.”
