Memorial benches have long been a way for the community to remember loved ones, and the Town of Strathmore is making changes to how you can buy one.
To simplify the process and keep memorial benches financially sustainable, the Town of Strathmore's operations manager Donna McCallum proposed some changes to the policy.
"As the prices have increased for the benches, concrete, and for the trees, we're proposing to remove the set prices from the policy and we're recommending that the donor pays the full price for the cost of the bench or the tree, the concrete base in the case of a bench, plus all the plaques that go with the memorialization of the tree or bench," McCallum explained.
This change means purchasing a memorial bench could be anywhere between $3000-5000. However, other options are available if you can't afford the full price.
"If you walk along the irrigation canals you'll see there are already some benches installed without plaques, so when donors do put in an application we offer that to them first, and basically they just pay for the plaque installation."
We could be seeing more pre-installed benches to lower the cost for potential donors, but if you would prefer to choose your location that will remain an option. McCallum said there are some restrictions on where you can put it, but so far she hasn't had a situation where the Town had to say no to a proposed spot.
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