What stories do memorial benches hold?

Back in 2023, I discovered a bench at the park that became really special to me. In fact, it is what brought me to join Friends of Cedarvale later on.

I began visiting that specific bench every week. It became a kind of emotional support and a place I kept returning to when I needed some time to myself. And the more I visited, the more curious I became about the person it honoured: who they were, how they lived life, and also how thankful I was for the work of one of their children, who recorded an audio interview and wrote a book in their memory.

That bench belongs to Elaine Ruth Mitchell.

That curiosity, the connection to someone I never met, led me to think more deeply about all the memorial benches in the park (28) and the stories they hold. How benches are not only public infrastructure, but social and emotional ones too.

I started to wonder who those people were, why they (or their families) wanted a bench in their honour, what was their relationship to the park, and how they cared for this space. I started to acknowledge each one of them as knowledge keepers and protectors of the park.

I understood that their stories, their lived experiences, could tell us something about the history of this place. This bench in honour of Stella Dent (1918-2002), for example, says that she “[…]actively preserved Cedarvale Park from [Spadina] Expressway”. A knowledge keeper of something that happened right here back in the 60s early-70s.

Now, when I pass by their benches, I honour them and I thank them for the care they provided and continue to provide to this park.

And with that, came a desire to build something more tangible, a space for their stories to be shared. An archive of sorts for those who cared deeply about their local park, so much so they (or their families) wanted them to be a part of it.

Over the last year, I’ve been building an interactive map of Toronto’s memorial benches starting with Cedarvale Park and Ravine. And while this project isn’t part of Friends of Cedarvale as a group, it’s deeply inspired by the work we do here, and by the people we get to meet and honour along the way.

I believe that each memorial bench holds someone’s story, a piece of the history that lives in public spaces and deserves to be honoured and shared. The goal of this project is to do exactly that, to tell these stories, let them be discovered by anyone who feels curious enough to read about them, and honour the lives of those who cared about our local parks long before we started to do so.

With the prototype in development, I would love to feature three stories and share them with the broader community and the City of Toronto by the end of August, in an upcoming exhibit about the project.

If you know anyone with a memorial bench in the park, or have a family member being honoured there, I’d love to hear from you and share more about the project and what’s looking like. Feel free to reply to this email or reach out personally at friendsofcedarvale@gmail.com.

With care,
Valentina