Garden of Reflection moving forward

"We're moving right along," Wendy Hale said Thursday about her dream project, the Garden of Reflection. Hale has been the driving force behind the garden that will provide people with a quiet place at Wasilla's Iditapark to relax, read, remember or reflect upon friends or family who have died.

Plans for the project began as "just an idea," Hale said at a recent committee meeting, and grew from there. Hale, who lost her son Chris in 1999, along with Kelly Marre, who lost her 11-year-old son Logan to leukemia in 1998, both felt the Valley needed a place of beauty and solace where they and others could go to remember their loved ones. Both mothers opted to have their children cremated, so there was no grave site to visit. The idea for the garden began with that need in mind.

After receiving confirmation of a location at the Iditapark for the garden, the Garden of Reflection committee members -- among them other parents who have lost children -- began the difficult task of raising funds and donations to make the plan come to fruition. So far, Hale said, the task has been surprisingly easy.

"I'm really impressed because the public has come out and [we've] had a good response," Hale said.

The committee has raised nearly $8,000 in cash donations, according to Marre, not including the in-kind donation from the city of Wasilla up to $5,000 that was pledged last year.

Recluse Gardens has agreed to create the waterfall that will be the central piece of the garden, Kiwanis has donated trees, and sand, rocks and concrete have all been donated by local companies, Hale said. The plans laid out for the committee by Wasilla's public works department -- who are partnering with the committee on the construction -- detailed a four-year completion of the garden, to be done in phases. Hale, however, believes it will come together much sooner than that.

"I think it's going great, better than I expected," she said, referring to the positive community response. Hale said volunteers should be able to work on some of the planting at the garden this year. It will take some time before the garden is completely done, however, simply due to the volume of greenery expected to create the haven envisioned by the committee and the garden's designer, Burt Lent of Group Three Design. The garden design shows it surrounded by trees and shrubbery that will provide a sort of enclosure, separating it from the park's more active areas, such as the nearby skate park. It will be located on the east end of the park, near the Honor Garden and between the feed store and the public safety building.

Hale said she anticipates the waterfall and trellis will be up this year, along with fencing and possibly the perennial beds. Volunteers or people who wish to donate to the garden can call Hale for more information at 376-4170. There is a special account for the project in the city budget called the City of Wasilla Garden of Reflection Fund, as well, and people interested in contributing to the fund or participating can also contact the Wasilla public works department at 373-9095.

Both Marre and Hale have stressed that while the idea for the garden came from their personal losses, the garden isn't intended to be just for bereaved parents. It will be a quiet place for anyone who wants to sit back, enjoy the flowers and the waterfall, read or just relax. Both see the garden as a positive addition to the park -- one that now looks as though it's becoming a reality.

"It's actually really exciting," Marre said.