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Two granite benches have been installed at the Meditation Garden at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Melfort, alongside the Weeping Willow sculpture. (Angie Rolheiser/northeastNOW Staff)
Meditation Garden

Granite benches installed to accompany ‘Weeping Willow’ sculpture at Mount Pleasant Cemetery

Oct 8, 2019 | 11:53 AM

The Meditation Garden at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Melfort has some new additions.

The Communities in Bloom (CIB) project that features the ‘Weeping Willow’ sculpture made by local welder, Rob Jung is now also home to a couple more benches according to CIB member Shannon Marshall.

“They really add to the space, not that it wasn’t spectacular before,” Marshall said. “Those two benches were donations from two organizations in our community.”

The Knights of Columbus and the Melfort United Church both made donations specifically for the two granite benches.

The group is focusing on adding a donor sign at the site but they are making one more call for donations before that is completed.

“If you wish to be on the donor sign, we ask that those [submissions] be in by October 10,” Marshall said.

Donations will still be accepted beyond that date but wouldn’t be added to the sign. The group is about 85 per cent to being to their goal for funding for the meditation garden.

The project came with a price tag of around $27,000 and couldn’t have been done without the generous support of the community thus far according to Marshall.

Rob Jung, who was commissioned by the CIB, also donated a large portion of the 333 hours of time he put into the angel sculpture that has been at the garden since July.

The sculpture has gained attention around the world as well, attracting many visitors to the Melfort area to view and take in its serenity.

“We are getting positive feedback from people in our community and communities beyond,” Marshall said. “We do find that we now have people coming in from out of town to see the Weeping Willow sculpture.”

The sculpture is also positioned on a bench which are both made out of round tubing and made to look like bark. Jung made the bench a few years ago and then added the sculpture to it when the CIB project began.

The recently added granite benches have been installed in the space to allow for more seating when visiting the garden.

“The benches really look phenomenal. You do truly have to go out there to see them because they really add a great touch to the space,” Marshall said.

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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser

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