by Helen Hall
Kitchener Citizen​​​​​​​​
​ Christmastime is difficult for those who have lost loved ones, so the Williamsburg Cemetery welcomes people who want to reflect to stop by during the holidays. 
   The cemetery's Dedication Centre is open until December 23 ​between 8:30am and 4pm for those who would like to visit, add a memorial decoration to its 22-foot Christmas tree, or just pause. Williamsburg provides the ornaments for dedication. An open house will also be held Saturday, December 17th from 2:30pm to 4:30pm.
   Williamsburg Cemetery began the tradition of decorating its Dedication Centre in 1999, according to Williamsburg cemeterian Dan Schell.
   "Over the years, it's just gotten bigger," he said.
   Each year a tree is cut from a woodlot on the cemetery property. This year's tree is the 22-foot top of a 40-foot tree. Schell said the tree stand is filled with water twice a day.
   It is one of two trees in the Dedication Centre. The second tree ​is dressed with donations of new hats, mitts, scarves, socks and boots. The community is invited to contribute, and all items will be donated to local charities including Anselma House, which provides shelter and services for abused women and children, and to St. John's Kitchen, which provides support and outreach services in downtown Kitchener.
   The Dedication Centre has been beautifully decorated by Gloria Doherty, wife of well-known Kitchener hockey volunteer Pat Doherty.
   Schell said that Doherty, who is his mother-in-law, also helps with holiday decorating at the Rockway Golf Course, and dove into this project at Williamsburg. To tie it into Williamsburg's annual butterfly release, she found two-foot wide silver butterflies to rest on the tree branches. Other decorations include blue lights, blue and gold bows, and white feathered birds. The whole room sparkles with garlands with glittering blue bows.
  "Christmas is really her time of year," Schell said of Doherty.​
​  The Williamsburg Dedication Centre has a rich history. The building was originally built in the 1800s to serve a Mennonite Church along Toronto’s waterfront. When it became rundown and was slated to be demolished, a Waterloo-based company came to the rescue, purchasing the chapel’s original main support beams and roof deck, enabling the building to be reconstructed and brought back to its original beauty. The City of Kitchener then purchased the
​ materials in 1997 and rebuilt the chapel at Williamsburg.
   Almost every material used to reconstruct the chapel has been reclaimed. The
​ gorgeous Douglas fir wood on the chapel’s floor and walls was salvaged from Newland Textile plant, that was originally built in the 1800s in Cambridge, and was also about to be destroyed. Its antique-stained glass windows were recovered from a Waterloo church before it was demolished.
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