Zion's Memorial Garden is found in a quiet corner of Zion Park.
The Memorial Garden is designed as a place of tranquil beauty, set aside for the internment of ashes and for prayer and meditation.
All members of Zion Church and their families may be buried in the Memorial Garden. There is space for approximately 350 plots. A bronze plaque designed for the Memorial Garden will hold individual nameplates, which will give the names and dates of birth and death of the deceased.
The grass in our new Memorial Garden had not yet taken root, when our committee agreed that a large cross would be an appropriate addition. Several years of planting, mulching, sprinkler system installation, and planning, passed. Surely, 2004 would be the “year of the cross.” And actually, it almost was. My intent from the start was to do that job myself. In October I sought the advice of master craftsman George Senerchia of Northford. I knew that George spearheaded the building of the beautiful Historical Society barn next to the Reynolds-Beers House here in town. He would be the most qualified to advise me on wood species and joinery options. Upon meeting George, I quickly learned he was one of less than one hundred people worldwide surviving with an artificial heart. George was waiting for a donor heart for transplantation. Our first face-to-face meeting went immediately from George, the advisor, to, “Dave, I want to build that cross.” There was a spiritual connection between George the patient, and, the project, our cross. There are times when you jump in and “just do it.” Then, there are other times when you just listen and know there are other, much bigger, forces at work. This was one of those times. George and his team of craftspeople had just started work on the cross when his health worsened. Drastically so, he was hospitalized and a donor heart became available. Surgery was so successful that by the third Thursday in November the Senerchia family celebrated the most meaningful Thanksgiving of their lives (at home, no less!) After a remarkable recovery, George resumed work on the cross. On Saturday, April 23, Pam Searle and Carol Archer led sixteen of Connecticut's finest craftspeople, and as many from Zion, in a lovely service of dedication for our new cross. Due to torrential rain, the service was held in the Church, and the cross remained overnight in the Sanctuary. On Sunday, with beautiful weather, at least as many people processed the cross out to our Memorial Garden. The Vicar led us in prayer, the Music Director played as we sang “Lift High The Cross”, and the cross was permanently set in place. The Memorial Garden Committee, with the Parish of Zion, is most grateful to George, and all his talented associates, for joining with him on this spiritual journey. Thank you all, Thanks Be to God, Dave Bowen
