One that will last for all time.
The 19th annual dedication took place Sunday, May 26 in Crescent Park, the first for the newly amalgamated Jones-Parkview Funeral Services. Close to 100 people took part in the event, taking advantage of the outstanding weather to watch, listen and participate in the tree-planting project designed to give patrons a memory and legacy that will last generations.
“It was beautiful,” said organizer Della Ferguson, the longtime grief support worker and funeral celebrant at Jones Funeral Home. “The weather played into our hands today, making it accessible for people to attend and there’s something about seeing these families come together and seeing they’re not alone in their loss, and coming together for a positive reason that is looking at growing forward and using a tree to symbolize that.
“I find it very powerful and as I looked at each face I look at is as a story of a loved one they’re carrying with them and it’s a meaningful experience.”
The dedication was part of a full program that included a family reflection by Sharon Pritchard in memory of her son Jason Pritchard; a performance of ‘Make Me a Channel of Your Peace’ by Stella Salido-Porter in memory of her father, Dr. Domingo Salido and a reading of the honour roll of each of 203 people served by Jones-Parkview in 2018-19.
The event closed with the planting of the tree – a Northern Pin Oak -- which included the mixing of special messages written to the deceased by their loved ones into the planter and tree transplant hole. That way the roots of the tree will spread through the messages for eternity.
“It’s rooted in love,” Ferguson said. “There’s just something about expressing ourselves, we encourage that in so many ways and so that message of love is a way of giving that expression and connecting themselves to that tree.”
The tree was planted near the Moose Jaw Lawn Bowling Club on the east side of Crescent Park. It will grow to a height of around 26 feet in the next 10 years and eventually reach as high as 72 feet at its tallest, with a spread in the 50-foot range.
The Tree of Memory project started at the turn of the century when Don Jones was the general manager of Jones Funeral Home. The first trees were planted in Wakamow Valley before moving to Besant Park and finally Crescent Park last year, with the first tree there planted near the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery.
“It has morphed and changed over the year as we’ve filled spaces with trees,” Ferguson explained “Moving into Crescent Park has worked out so beautifully. It serves us really well because we have this oasis to gather in and it so close to (the funeral home) so it works out so well for everyone.”
Patrons also had a chance to take home a white spruce sapling to plant themselves and have their own personal Tree of Memory.
“(Death) is a reality of life and what we do is try and help people face that reality with dignity and grace and support to know they’re not alone… and this celebration is part of helping with that,” Ferguson said.
