The bright orange flicker of candles illuminated local cemeteries as residents remembered dearly departed loved ones.
Encased in star-shaped ice sculptures, hundreds of graveside Memory Candles were lit by volunteers this past Sunday, Nov. 24.
“People remember their loved ones and they think about the things that were special to them,” explained organizer Jean Hyska.
The Anglican Parish of St. Peter and St. James sold the Memory Candles to families for $10 each, but the initiative is not about money, but the community.
On Sunday afternoon, volunteers lit candles at all local cemeteries as well as the Jubilee Residence, as the elderly residents were unable to travel to the cemeteries.
This was the eighth year the church organized the fundraiser, and Hyska was pleased with the response.
Families purchased between 700 and 800 graveside candles. Other candles were placed along the driveways of the cemeteries.
Hyska reminded families that they are welcome to return to their love one’s gravesite with a fresh candle in hand. The ice sculptures can also be taken home by families and kept in their yards.
Four religious leaders said prayers at Sunday’s mass lighting.
Father Paul Bringleson of St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church was at Hillside Cemetery; Pastor Randall Krahn of Cornerstone Community Church was at East Hillside; Rev. Claire Edwards of the Anglican church was at Ross Lake; and Pastor Andrew McGregor of the Flin Flon Alliance Church was at the Jubilee Residence.
An ice-sculpture-encased candle burns at Hillside Cemetery on Sunday.
PHOTO BY JONATHON NAYLOR
