A community barbecue event was held as a fundraiser in Garson on Sunday. And while that in itself is not such a novel thing, it is where the barbecue was held that makes it special.
The event was held at the St. John's Cemetery in Garson, which is a special place for the community according to John Monaghan, one of the many volunteers who have worked over the years to make a cemetery so much more than a place to bury the dead.
The cemetery is several acres of greenspace splashed with colourful raised flowerbeds and accented by scores of carefully pruned trees and shrubs.
There are dozens of benches placed throughout the property where people can go to sit, to quietly spend time and enjoy the solitude.
Monaghan was among the several green-shirted St. John's Cemetery Community Volunteer Improvement Group that was on hand for fundraiser Sunday for the Maison Sudbury Hospice.
It was almost like a reunion, or like a wedding, or perhaps even like a funeral, where friends and family members gather, eager to see other and to wish each other well. Monaghan said that's why people are happy to have a community gathering at the cemetery.
"The biggest objective here is to make this a very presentable and enjoyable place for people to visit. As you can see, we keep it neat and clean, and we probably have 50 benches throughout the whole place. And today, we put tables and chairs all around so people who have helped us along the way we make sure that we don't forget them," said Monaghan.
He added that the idea of the fundraiser was to take advantage of the venue to create an old home week atmosphere. There was even a musician at the entrance to the park playing live music.
Monaghan said a small minority did not think it was a good idea to have a community event at the cemetary, but the folks in Garson were pleased overall.
"But we thought we'd give it a try. And everything was successful. If the weather is good, we will draw over 400," he said.
Historically speaking, Monaghan said the volunteer work at the cemetery goes back to the 1980s and community members were happy to help out.
Also attending at the Sunday event was Ray Ingriselli, the manager of Cemetery Services for the City of Greater Sudbury. He said the city was pleased to inherit the property that came with city-wide alamgamation several years ago. Ingriselli said he could understand why citizens of Garson were so proud of the facility.
