A comfort station – a public washroom – is a new installation at Virden Cemetery. The three-season facility provides running water and a flush toilet.
Funds raised during the annual Memory Tree Campaign have been put towards the construction of washrooms at the Virden Cemetery, which were officially opened on July 16.
"From all the bulbs that people purchase, we put the money into a cemetery fund,” said Gina Bradbury, Treasurer of the Virden & Area Memory Tree Association, following the brief ribbon cutting ceremony. “There's several projects around here that we have put money towards, and this was our biggest.”
Bradbury praised the efforts of two long-standing members who played a key role in making the $24,000 facility a reality. As both are now deceased, the decision was made to dedicate it in their memory.
“It started with (the late) Murray Wooldridge, who served as cemetery caretaker for a number of years,” she said. “He had the vision and then (the late) Keith (Wadham) came aboard and the two of them were putting it all together.”
Canart Backhoe Service of Elkhorn, one of the contractors, contributed $2,500. The Town of Virden supplied a water line to the building and will be looking after the cleaning and sanitization as part of their regular maintenance duties.
"The vision has now come to light,” Bradbury said. “We have our new washroom facility dedicated to these two wonderful men. All of us board members are pleased at how everything has turned out.”
