OUR MEMORIAL GARDEN--ITS MEANINGS

Our new memorial garden becomes a reality with the erection of the spire by Rev. Jim McConnell.  Thanks go out to many members for your suggestions about its shape and its plantings.  Tom Hackley helped me find a reliable landscape company (Harbert Market Garden Center).  And thanks to Diane Brown for her cooperation in regard to the memorial trees for Marvin and Kate Fuller, and to Ann Strang, a Botanist and Microbiologist in St. Charles, Illinois, for her reassurance about the feasibility  of some of my choices.

There are some important symbolisms embodied in the design of the garden itself and the associated plantings in our front yard:

1. The reaching aspect of the spire itself is echoed in the shape of the roofline and of the small  conifer that share its central axis:  we are a congregation which constantly  reaches for new thoughts.

2.  The developing circle symbolizes our circle talks.

3.  The placement of Marvin and Kate's memorial trees (Japanese red maples) will form the welcoming gateway to symbolize that we are a welcoming congregation.  The gateway makes the beginning of the circle.

The garden is designed with perennials to minimize maintenance problems, and our landscape company has included a watering system to take care of the early care the plants will need. They are donating a bench, which will be more welcome next Spring.

Heartha Whitlow