Beauty: Louie was beautiful inside and out and he appreciated and strived for beauty and orderliness in everything he did. He also was inquisitive, philosophical and deeply sensitive. We are establishing The Wellfleet Memorial Garden, where people can meditate, have deep conversations or simply observe the beauty of the community Louie loved. The garden will be dedicated to locals who have “left us too soon.”
WelLFLeet Memorial Garden Brochure 2023
The Story of the Garden…
Since the inception of Live for Lou in 2014, it has been a goal of the committee to create a memorial garden and contemplative space to remember Louie, as well as others the community has lost too soon. We decided that ‘beauty’ would be one of three pillars around which LFL is centered (others include compassion and athleticism). Louie took pride in gardening, and around the time of his death he was becoming more interested in horticulture. The Wellfleet Memorial Garden funded by LFL seemed fitting.
Around the time of Louie’s death, Wellfleet and Cape Cod began to lose many young adults. While many, like Louie, passed due to battles with addiction, others died of illness, cancer, or horrific accidents. The Wellfleet Memorial Garden will be a place to remember those who have passed well before their time.
The idea for the garden grew from Louie’s desire to beautify his surroundings in tandem with the Live for Lou Committee’s recognition of young lives lost on Cape Cod. The committee, consisting of friends, family, and community members, wanted this garden to be public to all of Wellfleet. The committee searched for the right location – somewhere that could be a contemplative space enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. We could not be happier with the location, nor the outcome of the garden.
The LFL committee could not have done this without the support of 30+ local businesses who donated their time, hours and materials. Most specifically, we thank Jean Brooks Landscapes and her crew (Garden Design) for their endless hours of volunteer work. Please see the back of the newsletter for a full list of dedicated local people and businesses.
Thank you for believing in our mission and helping to create this Memorial Garden. Also, thank you to our partners who are making this garden possible.
Words from our Garden Family:
Marianne Alciati
Carved into the middle of town, the Wellfleet Memorial Garden is classic Wellfleet, remembering with beauty, nature and art. John loved these qualities about Wellfleet and I love that there is such a beautiful place in the heart of town to remember him. We were married just next door, when Preservation Hall was Our Lady of Lourdes Church, in perfect view from his bench. There is a tranquility in the garden on most days, a quiet peacefulness that provides a comforting home for remembering with gratitude.
Samuel and Anne Engel
June is hard. Not that I don’t think about Rose the other 11 months — every day — but the early summer weeks rush me with memories: “my leg hurts” on the Lecount Hollow dunes, the kindness of Outer Cape Health, the call the next morning telling us to go straight to Children’s in Boston, the hopeful weeks of treatment.
As the years pass since Rose died, it gets harder to hold in one hand both how real she is and how thoroughly not here she is. A new colleague asked me recently how many kids I have. How selfish of me to mar her day with my answer of “Two”. Isaac is six and Rose would be 11.
The Memorial Garden affirms that Rose is with us. It gives me a regular touchstone of comfort that makes it easier to keep saying I have two children, not to feel embarrassed or inconvenient to be a father of two.
The Memorial Garden also affirms that Rose and our family are part of Wellfleet forever. This year we may live in Boston, but our real home is always Wellfleet. We share our loss with other Wellfleetians. We are honored to be part of a community that comes together around Lou and the other children, to heal the world and to share love.
Robert Treat Fryklund, Jr.
(Quality Landscaping by Robert Treat Fryklund)
Having grown up in Wellfleet and still living in Eastham I know how closely knit these communities are, and when tragedy strikes its effects ripple throughout. I’m grateful to be part of caring for this garden in the heart of Wellfleet; which represents to me a part of the soul of our community. It is a beautiful reminder for those who have passed, and still mean so much.
Timothy Gordon O’Hara
(Independent Gardener)
In any garden, a particular feature fits its setting when it looks like it’s always been there. If a garden feature is best sited where it naturally appears established, a public garden that fits its site compliments established patterns of use; people use it as if it’s always been there. By that standard, the Memorial Garden is a resounding success. From the very first day, I’ve seen little kids running around while their grownups hang out on the benches, grownups spilling over from events at the Prez Hall, passersby taking a detour through the garden. I’m grateful to be a part of something that has already become so integral to Main Street.
Carol Mahedy
Live for Lou began as an answer to a question. A question posed by one of Louie’s friends following his tragic death. The question, laced with sobs, was “what are we going to do now?” “We’re going to live for Lou” was the answer. A legacy borne of loss. I’ve been involved in all aspects of the endeavor, but the garden resonated with me immediately.
By 2014, our tiny town had had its big heart broken too many times in a short period of time. Young people were dying before they’d had a chance to see adulthood. Leaving their families and friends to navigate the vicious territory of grief. I saw the value of creating a space, an open physical
space, to mirror the effect death has on our hearts. A refuge, a space for contemplation. I hoped its location in the heart of town would offer comfort to all who sought it. I believed so strongly in this oasis that I planned and planted and did whatever I was asked to help bring it to fruition earning myself a spot on the rock at the top of the garden.
Life has a way of catapulting us from theory to reality and that is what happened with me and the garden. Last summer, I lost my brother. He may have been 55, yet he was still my little brother. He died in Arizona where he lived, but he loved Wellfleet. And maybe, more importantly, Wellfleet is home to my children and I and we needed to honor him here. One evening last fall, just a couple of months after photographing our ribbon cutting garden party, I attached myself to the garden in a whole new way. A handful of us placed the plaque and whispered some prayers marking his memory. In the garden I find what I hope others will when they call to mind their angels. Solace, understated and powerful, is mine there.
Garden Designer: Jean Brooks Landscapes
2018-2019 Volunteer Landscapers: Live for Lou Crew, Matthew Losordo, Timothy Gordon O’Hara, Quality Landscaping by Robert Treat Fryklund, Rick McCaslin
Garden Install Donors, Garden Party Donors & 2017 Garden Sponsors: John Arsenault. Back Bay Residential. Rose Bartolini. Cape Cod Stone EZ-Doze It, Dana Eldridge, Jean Brooks Landscapes, Joseph A. Cappello Well Drilling, Inc., Kim Catalano, Paul Childs (Robert Childs, Inc.), Schooner Grady, Jeremy Young Landscaping, The Lighthouse Restaurant, Matt Losordo, Mid-Cape Home Centers, Monomoy Tree Service, Nate Nickerson, Pearl Restaurant & Bar, Preservation Hall, Randy McDonald, Rick McCaslin & Carol Mahedy, Christopher Mounce, Andy Thomas (Thomas Electric), Timothy Gordon O’Hara, Quality Landscaping by Robert Treat Fryklund, Rainmaker Irrigation Crew, SiteOne Landscape Supply (South Dennis), Truro Vineyards, The Wicked Oyster, William M. Rogers II
Sponsorship Examples
Contemplative Sponsorship: Large garden stone
(Mindful Sponsorship includes smaller stone)
Reminisce Sponsorship:
Large Plant with Garden Plaque Engraved laid in Stone
The Wellfleet Memorial Garden will be funded by Live for Lou as a component fund of the Cape Cod Foundation.