Winlaw Regional Nature Park has a new spot to sit and rest, that came to be through the hard work of a number of people, to honour Walter "Wally O" Osachoff who was instrumental in having an access road built into the park.
A gathering of friends and family unveiled the bench on Sunday, May 5 just in time to celebrate Wally's birthday.
Cathy Nimikin explained how the bench came to be in an email:
"Craig Lawrence had told us they wanted to honour Walter in some way, so they put a sign stating Walter's Way along the access road that he worked so hard to have built (so that in case of a fire the fire dept had a way to get into the park).
Myself, Walter's sister and his good friend Kathy thought we would like to add to that somehow and came up with the idea of a memorial bench. So we contacted Tom Bradley (a good friend of Wally's and co-worker of the access road) and he thought it was a great idea and passed me along to Walter Popoff and the RDCK, who were so wonderful to award a grant for the purchase the bench.
From there, we contacted Howard Roo, a local metal worker and one of the crafters from Wally's Queen City Christmas Craft Fair. He was honoured and helped us make the design, which we felt represented Walter. He made the bench only charging us for his materials.
The Winlaw Regional Nature Park went in and cleared us a spot along Walter's Way and with the help of my husband Robert and good friend Don Faust, they went in and dug the holes and poured cement."