This October, Mounties from across BC will gather to rededicate the Nicola Cemetery.
On Oct. 18, St. Michael’s Anglican Church will host the prestigious event at the cemetery located just past Nicola Ranch.
“There’s a lot of history there,” said Reverend Canon Isabel Healy-Morrow.
The land was first used as a cemetery in the year 1899, as a final resting place for a young boy. It was first dedicated in 1905, and now 115 years later, will be rededicated.
The family who donated the land will be in attendance for the ceremony.
Those buried in the cemetery include both World War I and World War II veterans. Healy-Morrow said there are also approximately 14 children buried in its plots.
In modern day, it is now only the family members of those already buried there that have the cemetery as a final resting place, making the ground even more sacred.
230 people lie in peace in the cemetery. Some of the names on the tombstones are familiar and even household names to Merrittonians: Garcia, Clapperton, Tutill, Armstrong, among others.
Healy-Morrow said that over the past three decades or so, the cemetery became rundown. It is with the work of local volunteers, including that of the Merritt RCMP, that it is currently being restored.
The event will be limited to 50 people who can attend. Masks will be mandatory, and if you forget your own, some spare ones will be available.
Guests are expected to arrive in semi-formal attire.
Everything will kick off at 2p.m.
For more information, contact Healy-Morrow at [email protected], or at 250-573-7663.
