Community chooses touching memorial for councillor Patrick Nicol

VERNON – Councillor Patrick Nicol will be remembered forever in the place he loved best.

Having received substantial feedback from the community, Vernon City Hall has chosen to create an area in Polson Park called Patrick’s Gathering Place. The area will feature benches and a memorial plaque.

Nicol passed away in January after a long battle with cancer. He served on Vernon council for 22 years, a duration among the longest of any councillor in the province. 

Coun. Juliette Cunningham, a longtime friend of Nicol’s, headed the committee that oversaw the memorial.

“The theme that reoccurred quite often through the consultation and the input was something to do with Canada Day and Polson Park,” Cunningham says.

Nicol was passionately involved in organizing Canada Day celebrations, and was a strong advocate for the park itself. Cunningham believes the chosen memorial is a fitting way to remember him.

“I think it’s modest enough but it’s meaningful. I don’t think Patrick would have wanted anything over the top, but the idea that it’s a gathering place for people to sit, I think it’s a good choice,” Cunningham says.

Patrick’s Gathering Place will be unveiled July 1 during Canada Day celebrations with a special ceremony.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.