THUNDER BAY – Elsie O’Brien says when she was a young girl, her father bought a place by the waterfront and built a garden.
Now 94 and living at the city-run Pioneer Ridge seniors complex, O’Brien said those memories came flooding back on Thursday as she toured the facility’s new memory garden, an outdoor oasis nestled into a hidden courtyard where residents can enjoy a connection to nature without leaving home.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “It couldn’t have been anymore close to my dreams.”
The garden features a gazebo, a waterfall, dozens of plant varieties, a bird feeder and its own resident chipmunk, nicknamed Chippy by residents and staff.
O’Brien, one of dozens who released butterflies on Thursday to commemorate the opening of the memory garden, said it’s simply perfect.
“It’s in your heart. You carry it with you everywhere.”
Don Wolframe has been living at Pioneer Ridge since last December.
The memory garden means a lot to all the residents, said Wolframe, who also donated the lighting to help complete the project.
“I like it all because it’s beautiful,” he said. “It’s the tranquility. I think the majority of people, the ones who are healthy enough to get out and enjoy it, it’s very relaxed and they just love seeing stuff like this.”
The inspiration behind the project was Judy Walters, a therapeutic recreationist at Pioneer Ridge. She said she’s wanted to develop the area for years.
It came together, thanks in part to grant from the Retired Teachers of Ontario, who provided more than $3,000 of the $10,000 cost.
Other donations came from auxiliaries at the former Grandview Lodge and Dawson Court senior homes, which closed earlier this year with the opening of the new Hogarth Riverview Manor facility.
A plaque embedded in the garden pays tribute to the two homes.
“I wanted to make this a real living piece of history and a real beautiful, harmonious place to enjoy nature,” Walters said.
“It’s really overwhelming. It feels so good being out here and hearing the birds and seeing the chipmunks and watching the residents’ expressions when they’re out here every day. They’re just so at peace. There’s just so much going on in this little area. It’s just a little sanctuary.”
