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Langley groups host walk on National Bereavement Day

Public can place memorial ornaments in arboretum
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More than 70 people attended the evening candlelight vigil held recently at Derek Doubleday Arbouretum in November 2021. (Special to Langley Advance Times)

Members of the community are invited to take part in a unique kind of walk, one to mark National Bereavement Day.

On Tuesday, Nov. 15, the Langley Hospice Society and the Langley Division of Family Practice are hosting the Walk to Remember.

“It’s held in recognition of National Bereavement Day, and to acknowledge community members that have been impacted by the death of a loved one,” explained Shannon Todd Booth, executive director with the hospice society.

The second annual walk is at the Derek Doubleday Arboretum, Fraser Highway at 212th Street. Last year’s event attracted about 70 people.

“These have been challenging times for so many, and we want you to know that you’re not alone,” she said.

A memorial ornament has been created featuring the dogwood flower on weather-friendly synthetic paper so they can be personalized and hung onsite at the Derek Doubleday Arboretum, and used in interactive visual memorial throughout the community.

“This artwork is a small way to acknowledge grief and loss individually and as a community, and our hope is: to provide an opportunity for individuals to share and support one another; to acknowledge individual and collective losses; and to remember loved ones as we continue to move through these challenging time, as a community,” she said.

People can stop by after 2 p.m. next Tuesday to create personalized ornaments and hang them around the arboretum, which has memorial gardens. Local music groups and others will be invited to perform in small groups onsite throughout the day.

The candlelit memorial walk is slated for 6:30 p.m. and anyone is invited to participate. There will be lights and lanterns and memorial ornaments hung on the trees along the pathway.

People can also pick up ornaments in advance at the hospice office. Local community groups, care homes, offices, and others who would like to have their own displays are invited to pick-up ornaments at the hospice program centre, 20660 48th Ave. before Nov. 15.

More information is at https://langleyhospice.ca/event/walk-to-remember/.

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• READ MORE: Hospice society hosts summertime butterfly release

• READ MORE: Inaugural Walk to Remember was in 2021

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Heather Colpitts

About the Author: Heather Colpitts

Since starting in the news industry in 1992, my passion for sharing stories has taken me around Western Canada.
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