Battinelli donates Memorial Garden

Battinelli Landscaping & Garden Center recently provided a donation of a different kind to the West Milford Animal Shelter Society (WMASS).

The business created a beautifully landscaped Memorial Garden on the shelter’s grounds dedicated in memory of volunteers who have passed away.

“Our shelter community is extremely grateful to the Battinelli family and team for this generous and thoughtful gift,” said Paula Whritenour, WMASS secretary. “We sought to dedicate a special place to our wonderful volunteers who have crossed the rainbow bridge to unite with their own and other shelter animals.

“Tony and Allison Battinelli and their crew stepped up to create the Memorial Garden from start to finish. We are thrilled beyond words. We at WMASS are forever grateful to the Battinelli family and crew of the Landscaping & Garden Center.”

The Memorial Garden is near the shelter’s front gate.

The Battinelli team spent weeks and thousands of dollars on design and layout, providing materials and soil to raise the ground level, laying patio foundation and blocks, and installing mulch and perennial plants on the garden’s two sides. All the services were donated.

The design incorporates pre-existing donated memorials to several WMASS volunteers: a park bench with plaque for Sharon Coney and a dogwood tree for Marlene Terhune. The garden also memorializes founding member and longtime shelter president Jean Bremy.

“We’ll soon install a plaque to commemorate the space and Battinelli donation,” Whritenour said. “Visitors to the shelter are welcome to take in and enjoy the garden.”

Battinelli Landscaping & Garden Center is a full service, family-owned landscape design and construction company that has served the West Milford area for more than 25 years.