The Altona Memory Garden held its annual planting ceremony on Sept. 26.
The small crowd gathered that night had shovels in their hands, hearts filled with memories, and tears in their eyes. A total of 19 plants were added to the garden this year, each carefully placed with love in memory of lost loved ones.
Located at the corner of 10th Ave. and 2nd St. NW, the Memory Garden was originally established in 2007 by the Altona in Bloom committee. They had a vision to create a space that would provide peace and serenity where visitors could spend time remembering loved ones while surrounded by beauty and nature.
The land for this garden was donated by the Town of Altona. The committee hired a professional artist, Monique Rampton, who created a predetermined plan and continues to help with the layout. She was advised that the garden should be low in maintenance but high in beauty, interest, and peacefulness, with plants that are native to the area.
The first year, four trees and some tulips were planted. Today the site features well-kept and organized beds spread all along the trail, with meandering paths and monuments, surrounded by trees, shrubs, and flowers that burst into colour every spring.
A small gazebo provides a quiet place to view a book listing the names of those commemorated there. The garden is maintained by Gwen Harman.
“Each tree or shrub planted is a way to pay tribute and to honour the memory of someone who is gone. Every bloom and fresh new leaf is a sweet reminder of how precious that person was, and how life, in all its painful beauty goes on,” Maria Nickel of Altona Palliative Care told the families and loved ones gathered at the site last week.
“This is your special time to reflect, to pray, and to give thanks as you plant their trees, shrubs, and perennials for their loved ones. I’m sure you’ve come with many memories of wonderful times but also the feeling of emptiness and loss. Our hope is that in doing this labour of love and here, surrounded by others who have also experienced loss, it will bring you comfort.
“Someone once said good memories are the perennials that bloom again and give us hope after the hard winter of grief.”
“Each tree or shrub planted is a way to pay tribute or honour the memory of someone who is gone.”
Photos by Lori Penner/Voice
The annual Altona Memory Garden planting ceremony draws family and friends of all ages to remember someone special who has passed on.
