FOLEY – The Foley Public Library dedicated a new Memory Rock Garden to the community on Dec. 5, welcoming everyone to participate in adding to the collection.
“We’re here to dedicate the …
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FOLEY – The Foley Public Library dedicated a new Memory Rock Garden to the community on Dec. 5, welcoming everyone to participate in adding to the collection.
“We’re here to dedicate the Memory Rock Garden as a place to commemorate someone special, a special event, or a special service,” said Library Head of Circulation Services & Interlibrary Loans Melanie Schnieders.
For the last part of 2017, the Facebook page #FoleyRocks has taken off. In an activity for the entire family, everyone paints their own rocks with various designs before taking them to be hidden in Foley or nearby areas, then posting a picture and a hint on where to find the rocks. Someone else on Facebook can see the post, then set out to find the rock themselves, posting a photo of their find afterwards. It is then up to the new person to take the rock to a new location and hide it, repeating the process.
Children, adults, and seniors can all enjoy the activity, while also getting outside and working together to locate the rocks, and then deciding the perfect new hiding spot. The page grew quickly during the summer months, and hasn’t shown signs of stopping.
It was the Foley Rocks Project that inspired the Memory Rock Garden’s creation. While individuals were already creating rocks with special meanings to them to be found, now they can craft rocks and place them in a secure spot. The Memory Rock Garden, while inspired by the project, is different in that rocks left in the garden are meant to remain there forever in remembrance of a special event or person.
“Rock painting is very popular in this area,” said Schnieders. “This is just a way to have a permanent installation, so that people can bring something and come and look and enjoy, and know it will always be here. I know rock painting has brought me a lot of joy; just the creating, and seeing the pictures of people finding them, I think it’s wonderful. I’m hoping this will do the same thing for the community, in a little bit of a different way. Allow them some closure if they need closure, joy at events and people, and a pretty thing to look at when you’re coming through our drive-thru.”
The Memory Rock Garden is for the community, and the library welcomes anyone who wishes to come and share their own rocks to the collection, or come and look at the rocks left by others.
The garden is located on the west end of the library, by the drive-thru book drop. For more information, you can reach the Foley Public Library at 251-943-1031, or visit them at 319 E Laurel Ave.
