| Commemorative
Bench Program Worth the Effort |
|
To the editor:
|
| I was taking my usual walk around Lake Newport with my dog
when I saw about a dozen men with large garden tools making
holes in the ground. I asked them what they were doing and
they said they were planting bulbs between the two benches.
|
| These are two new benches recently installed on the dam
at Lake Newport, within about 50 feet of each other. I thought
that was such a nice gesture. |
| They introduced me to one of the fellows and told me that
they were planting the bulbs in memory of his daughter, who
had recently died of leukemia. I had looked at the plaques
on the benches before, and I saw they were placed in memory
of 3-year-old Hannah. |
| I gave her father my condolences and told him what a fitting
memory this was. Now, every spring, he can sit on one of these
benches and as the bulbs emerge into white and gold beauty
he will know that it some way his daughter is right there
with him. |
| A Commemorative Bench program was presented to Reston Association
at their board meeting in January, and RA liked the idea and
referred it to the Facilities Advisory Committee and the Senior
Advisory Committee for their comments. Subsequently the program
was presented to both committees and they also thought that
Reston needed such a program and there was nothing but positive
comments. You can purchase a bench now but it is not an easy
process and most people do not know about it. |
| The proposed Commemorative Bench program would inform residents
about it, and would make it much easier for them to obtain
a bench. The program was ready to go, in mid-July, whereby
a donor would be able to donate a bench and receive a charitable
tax deduction for it, and the bench would have whatever inscription
the donor would like. It would be the owner's bench for at
least the life of the bench, about 20 years. |
| A few days after this was set to roll, with arrangements
made for publicity of the a Commemorative Bench program to
the community, and concurrence of the RA staff members who
would be installing the benches, as well as more senior RA
staff, and with the price of the bench covering all costs,
including the bench, plaque and installation, the Facilities
Committee chair canceled it and said that it was not necessary.
|
| Not necessary? You couldn't leave that site of all those
men planting all those bulbs between those two beautiful benches
this morning without tears in your eyes. Not needed? |
| There must be hundreds of people out there who would like
to remember lost loved ones in this way, or want to honor
a colleague, or an anniversary, or some other event, who have
no idea that there is such an admirable way to do it. |
| As presented at the RA and other meetings, the Commemorative
Bench program would provide a tax deduction to the donor,
would relieve the donor of responsibility of bench maintenance,
would have a commemorative plaque, and, of course, it would
provide the donor as well as anyone else a place to sit while
walking along the more than 70 miles of paths and trails of
Reston. |
| Right now there is less than one bench per mile of paths
and trails. The Commemorative Bench Program that was proposed
to RA should be put in place now, to give our residents a
place to grieve, to celebrate, to sit. |
| I suggest that you contact Reston Association and let them
know that you would like to have such program in place. It
wouldn't cost RA a dime. And visit Hanna's benches, on the
dam at Lake Newport, especially in the early spring. |
| Pat Smythe |
| Reston |
