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"You need not walk alone"
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The site was provided by the Township of Dover by a resolution of the Township Committee giving the Compassionate Friends of Ocean County space in Winding River Park for a garden in memory of all the children of Ocean County that have died from any age and any reason.
We wish to thank the mayor and committee for their gift and we would also like to thank the Parks & Recreation Dept. and the Buildings & Grounds Dept. for their guidance and assistance.
The garden was completed by donations both from our members and from the community. Although we have never raised money from the community in the past, the completion of the garden required substantial funds be raised.
Contributors who have donated at least $1,000.00 are recognized as Patrons and their generosity will be recognized by engraved plaques on a Wall of Patrons built in the garden.
We wish to thank the following Patrons for helping us complete this memorial.
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Chuck and Jane Abbate The Alexander Family Anchor Concrete Products, Inc. The Basaman Family Mary Bellows Bentley Diamond Importers, Inc. The Buss Family Dan and Lynn Capuano Carl's Fencing, Inc. Joseph and Christine Carter Carters Heating and Cooling Central Printing, Inc. The Conover Family The Employees of Julie M. Foukarakis Fund The Gawlik Family The Golden Family The Granahan Family The Hall Schultz Foundation Brian P. Hanlon, Sculptor Home Depot |
E. P. Homiek Sheet Metal, Inc. The Ives Family Jersey Shore Lawn Sprinkler, Inc. I. Lehrhoff & Company, Inc. J & J Landscaping, Inc. Bruce and Linda Jones Mr. and Mrs Robert Bruce Linton, Sr. The Linton Family The Little Family The McClung Family Morgan, Stanley Ocean First Bank Foundation Oliverie Funeral Home, Inc. Pillari, Inc., Landscape Architects David and Susan Rothman The Savitsky Family Suffolk Redi Mix Corp. Gram and Pop Sullivan Typestries Sign & Design |
P.0.
Toms
About the
In order to clear up any misunderstandings, please remember that the garden is a community effort and was built in memory of all the children of
The design and maintenance of the garden is done by the chapter as a group. Anything left in the garden belongs to the garden as a whole. Temporary items such as balloons or real flowers marking a birthday are allowed and will be removed after a short period when the garden is cleaned. Artificial flowers are removed.
We try to notify the chapter whenever we are doing maintenance or planting and encourage all to join us at those times. There is always something that everyone can do to help. The garden is again if full bloom and we thank all the members that have given of their time to make it such a beautiful memorial.
These are thumbnails of the garden, if you use the yahoo link to our photo
account you will find larger files suitable for printing. You can also purchase
prints from yahoo.
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Group raising $8,000 for Children's Memorial Garden in Toms River
As Bruce Jones led 22 fourth-graders from the Ridgeway Elementary School in Manchester along the paths through the Children's Memorial Garden, he reminded them that the garden was not a place for sadness.
"This is not a cemetery. This is a place I can come to so I can be happy thinking about her (his daughter, Jennifer, who died in 1991 at the age of 19 from a pulmonary embolism)," said Jones, a Beachwood resident and one of the founders of the five-year-old Children's Memorial Garden in Winding River Park.
Indeed, the garden, shaded by a canopy of tall pine trees and filled with lush, colorful perennials, is a serene and calming setting.
A gazebo sits near a sculpture by township-based artist Brian Scanlon that shows a mother holding an empty baby blanket. Pavers along the walkway contain the names of infants who were stillborn or did not survive their first year of life.
Flowers adorn the walkway, interrupted in the center by a raised granite circle on which a sculpture of two children releasing butterflies stands. The girl is Carrie-Ann Carter, who died in 1995 of cancer at the age of 19. Her parents, Christine and Joe, donated the sculpture, also created by Scanlon.
The granite benches along the walkway with a view of the man-made pond were donated in 2007 by then-16-year-old Marissa Hennicke of Manchester, who had a sweet 16 party and asked friends and family for donations for the garden, rather than presents, Jones said.
The garden was built with donated materials and volunteer labor on a free site in the park provided by Toms River Township.
Manchester High School technology teacher Joseph R. Gawlik designed the garden, and recently he and members of the high school's Habitat for Humanity Club and Interact Club worked to build a new section of the garden that will soon be planted.
Jones, a member of the Manchester-Lakehurst Rotary Club and a retired teacher at the high school, said he is seeking donations to buy matching pavers for the walkway in the new section.
After the garden tour June 3, the 22 students from Ridgeway, who are all members of the school's Junior Impact Club, weeded the garden and planted flowers they brought with them.
Fourth-grade teacher Jamie Velazquez said the club's other 22 members visited the garden, and weeded and planted last year.
"It's a good thing for parents and for the community," said Stephanie Seubert, who worked with her classmate Laura Morris to pull weeds. The girls are both 10.
Nicholas Nuccio, 10, said that although it is sad that so many children have died, the garden is nice.
"It's calm and peaceful here," added Devin Ortiz, also 10.
(Fourth-grade members of the Ridgeway Elementary School)
Overall View
Butterfly
Mother in Mourning 
View to Left 
Entrance
View to Right