Posted: Aug 8, 2005  09:26

Relic wood restored to new…a toddler’s shoe…A free flowing waterfall encased in ice…twisted steel wrapped in purple budding vines…yellow roses blooming in winter…a poem written in a whisper...an open door to hearts that closed…bouquets of flowers in the stream…an eternal flame…

Gene Tomt, I dedicate these things to you.

Gene Tomt, former CEO of Bonner General Hospital in Sandpoint, says the Healing Garden is a unique resource, a quiet place for reflection, set in view of a beautiful creek, and is for the use of the hospice, hospice families, hospital staff and for the benefit of the community.

There is something you feel that cannot be expressed when you enter the recently developed Healing Garden, located next to the Bonner Community Hospice on the grounds of Bonner General Hospital, in Sandpoint, ID.

“I’ve been told by more than one person, who had never shed a tear over the loss of their loved one, that the minute they entered the Healing Garden, the tears came,” said Debra Kellerman, Hospice director.

A poem, written in the guest book of the Garden chapel, reads, Even the rock – solid and secure – will come to this place and weep. Ryan, 7-16-05

There are not many beautiful places like the Garden, where you feel it is your private sanctuary. Not many places in life where there is a sense of permanency, that you know will never change, and where you are always welcome.

According to Kellerman, this was the vision of the former CEO of Bonner General Hospital, Gene Tomt, because he recognized that beside the medical aspect of healing, there is also the spiritual aspect of healing within the soul.

Approximately two years ago, before retiring, Tomt dedicated an unused, though economically valuable, wooded parcel of the hospital grounds for the development of the Healing Garden.

He entrusted his vision to Kellerman, who set off on a special journey of ideas, labor, passion, imagination, heart and soul, and accompanied by fellow Healing Garden Committee volunteers from the hospital, hospice and community.

Debra Kellerman, Bonner Community Hospice director, encourages people to come visit the Healing Garden. The chapel is heated and open from dawn (around six) to dusk (around seven) and is just a special place.

She said she immediately recognized the importance of such a great opportunity for Hospice to be able to serve the bereavement needs of the community.

According to Tomt, the intention in creating this unique resource, a quiet place for reflection set in view of a beautiful creek, was for the benefit of the community.

Though the focus was initially for hospice, families using hospice services, and employees of the hospital, it goes beyond that now, and includes the use and appreciation of the entire community.

“With the creative minds of those that have been involved, this has been accomplished,” said Tomt.

The young Garden, includes a chapel, teahouse, memorial wall, a rose garden, waterfall, pond and stream. It also provides bench seating with views of Sand Creek along winding pathways through towering pines, inviting visitors to take time to stop and smell the roses.

“We wanted everyone to have year-round access, particularly to the chapel,” Kellerman explained. “So we provided heated walkways, and made them wide enough for wheel chair access.”

Recycled materials from the property have been used in all the buildings and structures at the Garden, because the committee wanted to respect the spirit of the Brown family, previous owners of the parcel.

“We wanted to give back to them for their contributions to this community,” she said.

Seventy-year-old larch wood planks were recycled to look like new again after being saved from the wooden docks. They were then used in the construction of the teahouse, some of the garden benches and the chapel door.

Along the windowsill in the chapel at the Garden, visitors have left gifts as an expression of grief, gratitude and spirituality.

The hard-scape design of the garden, created by designer/artist John Siegmund, includes unique, fluid, curved, concrete designs in the walkways and chapel walls.

“That’s John’s secret,” said Kellerman. “His specialty is concrete and he is an artist.”

In addition, Siegmund utilized symbols of a universal language in the construction of the chapel, which includes an eternal flame, stained glass, stone and other natural materials. Kellerman explained Siegmund was involved through the entire process of developing the garden, that he really listened, and developed a plan that truly captured what the Committee was trying to do.

Barbara Pressler, equally an artist in her own element, created the master plan for the Garden plantings, and Valle Novak, Garden committee member, designed the rose garden.

Upon entering the chapel, you find a variety of knickknacks lining the windowsills; a toddler’s shoe, an upturned horseshoe, a colored stone, a tiny box; gifts left as an expression of grief, gratitude and spirituality by the people that come to visit.

A water feature runs year round in the Garden, and last winter the waterfall became a beautiful, free form, ice sculpture, frozen in time, except for the very center where there was always water flowing. In addition, there have been several times when a visitor has left a bouquet of flowers in the stream coming out of the pond.

The teahouse is covered and offers a marble bench where visitors may be seated and enjoy the view overlooking Sand Creek.

Archways along the walks include creative renderings of rod iron rebar, twisted in the shape of vines, tenderly wrapped with living vines and creeping-rose plants.

Colleen Hinds, nursing supervisor at the Bonner General Hospital, says the Garden heals your heart and soul and how it does it is different for everybody.

It is a memory garden, and because Kellerman wanted to provide an opportunity to memorialize lives in a special way, a memorial wall is included in the Garden.

“We had this idea, and we wanted to do a quality act,” she said.

The hospital advanced the money for development of the property to the Garden Committee, who were confident they could repay the loan through fundraising events and donations from the community. At about that time, the Allen family stepped forward with one of the first acts of kindness that were so important in the development of the Garden.

The Allen’s are a family that wanted to express their gratitude for the care they received, by giving back to the Hospice.

According to Kellerman, they brought their entire extended family, from little babies all the way up to the seniors, 40 in all, along with their heavy equipment, hand tools, and their own resources and opened the view out to Sand Creek.

“That is when the real healing began in the Garden,” she said. “It captured the spirit of what the Garden is about and they provided the inspiration which drove the rest of the project to completion.”

Since then, there have been many in-kind contributions and Kellerman said it really took a community to build the Garden.

"We are so fortunate and grateful for the helped provided by so many,” she added.

When the Garden Committee received a donation of two garden benches designed and built by a local Eagle Scout, Kellerman noticed the materials and design matched the landscape perfectly, though the Scout who made them had never been to the Garden.

“That kind of stuff happens here all the time,” said Kellerman. “There are no mistakes in the creation of this Garden. It seemed everything we touched was meant to be here.”

Even the roses continue to bloom all through the winter she said.

Many people walk through and leave a contribution in the donation box, and there are those who write checks and send them in care of the Healing Garden to P.O. Box 1448, Sandpoint, Idaho, 83864.

Though Kellerman did not realize when she volunteered that the Garden was going to take so much of her time in life, she said it has been a pleasure and a unique privilege to help conserve a spot in Sandpoint for nature, honoring life and honoring others.

To raise funds and pay back the money advanced by the hospital, the Garden Committee recently held an art auction and raised $25,000. In addition, a winter Holiday Home Show provided additional funds.

However, even with all the generous contributions made by thoughtful community members and families, the Garden Committee is still in the red.

“We really need people to step forward and write us a check, get the word out, and when that is done, we will have our celebration,” Kellerman said.

She added, after the Garden debt is paid, the committee is silently committed to do a second phase in the garden for children. However, this project cannot begin until the previous Garden debt is paid.

“That is our promise to the hospital,” she said. “We see this not as the end, but a new beginning.”

Finally, though the Garden is a zero-scape design, meaning it requires little maintenance, it still requires weeding and Kellerman encourages individuals to spend a relaxing few hours a week volunteering in the Garden.

The Healing Garden is an all season refuge in the midst of a community that is just exploding with growth and development.

The Healing Garden Committee has been able to preserve a corner of downtown for spiritual healing and peace of mind, and it is rock solid and not going anywhere.

To make a contribution or for more information about volunteering at the Healing Garden you can email Debra Kellerman or telephone Bonner Community Hospice at 208-265-1179. Donations may be sent in care of the Healing Garden to P.O. Box 1448, Sandpoint, Idaho, 83864.

“We encourage people to come. The chapel is heated and open from dawn (around six) to dusk (around seven) and is just a special place,” said Kellerman.