WESTWOOD—There is still time to place a memorial bench for a loved one in Veterans Memorial Park — at press time sites remain available at several of the verdant park’s pathways.
According to organizers, these nine sites are the last available memorial bench locations in the park before the project reaches capacity. (There are a few coveted locations near the bandstand.)
Bench program manager (and “councilman emeritus”) Peter Grefrath, Westwood’s Municipal Bench Donation Program began in 2011 as a way to honor family or friends in lieu of memorial trees, the planting of which are no longer permitted in Westwood parks.
“The benches relay a positive message, are sustainable, and are a benefit to the many who frequent our parks and are looking for a place to relax and take in the view and the sounds of our town. And unlike memorial trees, benches are not affected by climate, disease, or a renegade chainsaw,” Grefrath tells Pascack Press.
He adds, “The Municipal Bench Program also offers memorial and commemorative benches that can be placed in any of the parks in town. There are 61 benches at the borough’s 10 parks and various community locations.
Grefrath and Lisa Bontemps, program manager of Westwood for All Ages, are working together to install several benches as part of the age-friendly initiative funded by the Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation through Meals on Wheels North Jersey.
The two are considering locations older residents might need to stop as they walk into town, as well as in McKinley Park, where many activities for older residents, such as pickleball, are held.
Brochures describing the Municipal Bench Program are available in the clerk’s office in the Municipal Center, at the Recreation Department in the Community Center, or at the Westwood website.
Grefrath says, “Let’s maintain the positive momentum and continue to grow this program. The organizers thank everyone for their continued support.”