Eastshore Garden of Remembrance

The Eastshore Garden of Remembrance

Come into the woods, she said to me, come down this pathway. But this is not new, I say to her, it’s been here since time began in this town. Take my hand, she said. So we went down the path – the well worn path, and we stopped in the middle of the woods. Listen, she said to me, just listen – then she left me there.

I heard the wind move through the tall cedars and shuffle the leaves of the birch and the willow. I could smell green ferns, and there, beside my feet, small white blossoms had their own grove. I could feel the solitude and peace of this woodland place, and I could sense tales hidden in the bracken and sifting down from the tallest fir. I knew then that this was already a memorial garden and all we had to do was to give it a name.

In February, Kootenay snow can be slick and slippery. It’s difficult to stop on a greasy surface. There are accidents. There are fatalities. And that was the reason why, in February of 2002, we stood in a church beside these woods that had no name, and we paid tribute to a woman who had served the communities of the East Shore for over twenty years. It was on that day that we made a promise to an overflow crowd of friends and former patients. We promised that we would create a memorial garden, and we would dedicate it to the memory of Dr. M. Francis Savory. We did not know where; we did not know when, but we began to search. We wandered all over town until we were led back again to this peaceful, well-used path; the pathway that brought us into these woods; the woods that had been waiting, as only trees can wait, for us to give them a name.

Walk through; sit for a while; this little park in the middle of town has been here for centuries, but on Dr. Savory’s birth date in May of 2002 we gave it a name. Now the Eastshore Garden of Remembrance is here for your use and enjoyment – along with all your special visitors and any wandering tourists you happen to see – tell them what its all about, many may have connections that reach back to the mines, and even to that dim distant past before a shovel-full of galena persuaded a French count to lend his name and a pocket or so full of cash to an unknown spot in a new province called British Columbia.

In the spring of 2016 there will be sixty-five names engraved on marble plaques and installed on six cedar benches. Many of the benches have been donated by friends and relatives in memory of their friends and relatives.

And—just in case you have no idea where this place is—the Eastshore Garden of Remembrance is across from the Community Centre on Eastman Avenue in Riondel. Come and take a look. You are always welcome.