Memorial park to remember four children
Name of memorial park – Windjammer – includes the first letter of the name of each child
As the one-year anniversary of a tragic event in Yarmouth County approaches, work is progressing on a park in memory of four children who perished in a house fire in Pubnico Head on Jan. 7 last year.
Jayla Kennedy, Winston Prouty, Mya Prouty and Mason Grant each have a granite bench with their name and photos on them that will be placed in the park. DeMone Monuments and Heritage Memorials Ltd. donated the benches and a centre stone.
Mya and Mason used to visit Donna Larkin’s cottage in Welshtown during the summer with their grandmother Louise Fenton, a good friend of Larkin’s. It’s important to Larkin to see this project completed.
She says some of the work that’s been accomplished so far includes having shrubs and trees removed from the property by volunteers, along with surveying, migrating the land and having it levelled.
“One of the parents paid the fee for having the land surveyed. As of now, we have the front portion of the land cleared and crushed stone brought in,” says Larkin.
That area of the property is where the four benches and a centre stone with the name of the park will be placed.
The back area has been levelled off and in the spring playground equipment will be installed, with fencing erected.
The location of the park is where the children once lived and where the house once stood, but is now unrecognizable with the changes.
A Christmas tree was also placed on the site a few weeks before Christmas.
“A lot of people came and put teddy bears under the tree, which was very nice,” says Larkin.
Firefighters from the East and West Pubnico fire departments also hung wreaths on a tree in memory of the children.
Families, friends, first responders and the public were heartbroken by the loss of these precious young lives last year. The park is seen as a way to honour their memories and to create a loving place within the community for people to visit.
Fundraising continues for the park. Last year a pig roast and auction raised close to $12,000. More money was donated through the Live Well Challenge and jars in the community are still collecting money.
There’s no specific date as to when the park will be completed.
“A lot of people are anxious for the park to open, but you have to do it in steps and make sure everything is done right,” Larkin says.
She says her son Dennis came up with the name for the park. He chose Windjammer because the word includes the first letter of each of the children who perished.
Dennis, who lives in Halifax, owns the pig-roasting business that held one of the first fundraisers. He’s been working for months to help make the park a reality, approaching businesses for donations.
He says once the project is completed, seeing children there playing and eating ice cream from the Creamy Treat next door will make him happy.
“It’s a wonderful spot for a little playground area for people to go play with their children and enjoy ice cream together just like those children did,” he says.