We are excited to finally be at the stage where completion of the Scatter Garden is feeling real.
The location of the scatter garden is nestled into the southeast corner of the church building as shown in the photograph. The diagram shows what the Scatter Garden area will look like, including unit paver patio, engraved pavers, plinth for UU sculpture, scrolls from stockpile, benches, and sun loving perennials.
Scatter Garden Features
- Paved patio area 7 X 14 feet
- Smooth accessibility from existing sidewalk
- Engraved bricks
- Scatter Garden 4 X 10 feet
- Surrounded by perennials
- Edging stones will be same bricks as church façade
- Bench along back edge of patio
- Architectural shards used in the area – pedestal, urn, scrolls
- Hope to commission a metal sculpture chalice to place in urn on pedestal
- Maintenance area upgrades to include some privacy fencing – may be shrubs or panels. Two dead trees must be removed before Scatter Garden can proceed. The shed will be relocated to free up vehicle access path along east fence line.
- These costs are not part of the Scatter Garden Project at this time.
Scatter Garden Planning
A new direction for the Scatter Garden planning is that we now wish to make this garden free to use for all members and friends at end of life and for family to be able to scatter ashes in the garden. By being free to use, we not only make the ongoing administration of the Scatter Garden much easier to manage, but we resolve any issues of compliance with CRA and challenging tax implications of prepaid services. We will suggest an optional donation at the time of use because this is typically a normal consideration for families and donations are able to assist us in ongoing care and upkeep.
Fundraising for the Scatter Garden – We need your help please
We need to raise approximately $10,000-12000 to complete this project and hope to do this with an engraved paving stone program – similar to what many of you may have seen done at Assiniboine Park. Our goal is to complete the fundraising for the Scatter Garden this November to end of January. Once we know we have the funds available we can then firm up the project and begin in early spring.
GOAL – Donations for 45 – 50 bricks. Are you interested in commemorative paving stone for your family or for loved ones that have passed away? We are asking for a minimum donation of $300 for a one brick or $550 minimum for two bricks and certainly welcome larger donations. Hopefully we are able to generate more than 50 brick donations! Who would you like to honour with an engraved paving stone?
Each brick will be an 8 X 4 inch Holland Paver with two lines of available text. Each line may have up to 14 characters.
More information about the Engraved Brick donation program
- Deadline for ordering an engraved brick is January 31, 2024.
- Donations for UU Celebration Park Memorial and Scatter Garden Project are welcome at any time.
- Tax receipt for all donations.
- Inscriptions on brick may be a message other than name and date and may require vetting to ensure alignment with UU principles and values.
- Bricks once engraved belong to the FUUCW and will be placed in the Scatter Garden gathering area.
- In the unlikely event that the church relocates to another property or ceases to exist reasonable efforts will be considered for relocating the bricks.
- Bricks will wear over a long number of years and engraving may fade.
- Contact Liz Redston at eliz_redston [@] hotmail.com if you have further questions or want to get involved with the Scatter Garden Admin Team.