By Michael Bennett
Local Journalism Initiative
The Ridgetown Independent
Trees planted in the T.R.E.E.S. Memorial Forest on Sept. 14 will forever remind families of a loved one lost over the past year.
The lives of 82 local residents who passed between Sept. 1, 2024, and Aug. 31, 2025, were remembered by family members at the annual Memorial Dedication Service.
“As this tree grows and the years ahead, may it stand as a witness to all the memories and love,” said Dan Ouimette, funeral director and a funeral celebrant with McKinlay Funeral Homes in his devotional message. “When its branches spread, may we be reminded of the way love reaches outward and when its leaves turn with the seasons, may we be reminded that change is natural, but beauty is never truly lost.”
The ceremony began with Piper Ken Poole, followed by a welcome and acknowledgements by Nathan McKinlay, president and general manager of McKinlay Funeral Homes, on behalf of the Tree Committee.
“It is our aspiration that this service of dedication today will offer each and every one of you comfort as we pause and think about the lives that have lived,” McKinlay said. “Because someone dear to us has lived, a forest has begun to grow.
“It has been said that no one plants a tree for himself; one plants trees for the generations that follow them,” McKinlay said.
McKinlay acknowledged the late Doug Smith, who, along with Ridgetown’s senior citizen group, initiated the idea for a memorial forest, as the first trees were planted in 1990 on land donated by the Goodall family and the former Town of Ridgetown.
He also acknowledged Hugh McVittie and Harry Wyma, who conducted the research in planning the memorial forest. Since the first planting, more than 2,400 trees have been purchased and planted, and the T.R.E.E.S. Memorial Forest has grown to 43 acres.
McKinlay credited past and present tree committee members, as well as community service clubs and groups, who raised funds to purchase approximately 35 acres of land from the Green family when the original portion of the T.R.E.E.S. Memorial Forest ran out of land.
He acknowledged his uncle, Rob McKinlay, for his vision to establish memorial forests at the C.M. Wilson Conservation Area, Merlin Conservation Area and Skakel Conservation Area in Thamesville, as well as in Ridgetown.
“You’re one of the pioneers for the concept of these memorial forests who have spent countless hours putting these projects in motion and creating meaningful tree planting ceremonies for the families,” he said of his uncle.
Before the reading of the names, Ouimette said that everyone who gathered for the ceremony came with a tender heart, carrying the memory of someone they had to say goodbye to in the past year.
“A name is never just a word; it is a doorway to a memory,” he said. “When you hear the name of someone you love, you may hear their voice in your mind, you may see their face or remember a favourite saying.”
