1st Annual Ice Candle – Celebration Day a beautiful success!

The First Annual Ice Candle – Celebration Day was yesterday. The forecasted storm did not come early and frustrate the efforts of many volunteers and municipal staff as they placed and lit over 175 ice candles at Woodland Cemetery.

The lighting of ice candles to remember those who have passed is not a new tradition. In Finland, this is a huge event, with special arrangements made to accommodate the increased flow of visitors to the cemeteries during the Christmas holiday season. In Kenora, an ‘Ice Candle Festival of Lights’ is held each year on Christmas Eve at the Lake of the Woods Cemetery. The festival, introduced in 2006, sees an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 candles were placed and lit.

Jocelyn Bedard with Councillor Bill Chiasson was the lead on this event for Wawa with the Wawa Cemetery Committee and volunteers. Students went out and packed the main roads in the cemetery with snowshoes, and Municipal Infrastructure staff plowed the main road to the gates of the cemetery. If you wanted you could buy an ice candle or more or you could pay to have it placed for you by a volunteer student. Kerry Funeral Home donated the wax candles for the ice candles.

Starting at 4:00 p.m. yesterday, the hot chocolate was warming, and the candles began to be placed. By dusk, their glow brought a beautiful look to the cemetery. After the candles were placed, everyone enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and admired their efforts.

Organizers of this event explained that the proceeds will be used in a Cemetery Beautification Project; to decorate/plant flowers to beautify the cemetery. There are no monies budgeted in the Municipal Budget for ‘decorating’, only for care and maintenance. Earlier this year, flowers were planted in the flower box at the entrance to Woodland Cemetery.

The event was such a success, that organizers are making plans for next year, and planning is expected to begin in the new year for planting in summer 2020.

Members of the Wawa Cemetery Committee are: Chair Councillor Bill Chiasson, Vice-Chair Jocelyn Bédard, Nancy Donald, Matthew Romer, Suzanne Lord (Recording Secretary); Resource – Cory Stainthorpe, Director of Infrastructure Services.