'She left a big void': Canmore retirement community honours resident behind garden project

Origin at Spring Creek is hosting the Amelia Hursin Garden Fundraiser at the Dirty Dog Car Wash on Tuesday (July 14).

CANMORE – If anyone had a green thumb it was Amelia Hursin. Gardening was second nature for the Origin at Spring Creek resident who died last year at the age of 93. The legacy Hursin leaves behind adorns the courtyards and blooms beside the sidewalks around the retirement community.

“All of her fingers were green,” said Kristina Nielsen, life enrichment aid and staff on the garden team. Supported by staff, it's the residents that are at the forefront of the garden committee and in Hursin’s day she led the charge. “If you compare gardens before to gardens now, it's like a snowball.

It's gotten bigger and bigger,” said Nielsen of Origin's garden. “[Amelia], she spearheaded most of it.” “In the early days, they couldn't really make up their mind whether they had it in the budget or not.

We just said, ‘You know what? We're just gonna do it’ and we did it,” added Marion Young, a close friend of Hursin’s who has carried on the torch as head of the garden committee.

To get the project up and running, initial funding came from residents’ own pockets. “Amelia was a part of that. She was very much like, ‘Let’s just do it, what are they gonna do, kick us out?’”

With a carefree spirit and enthusiasm, Hursin’s final big idea was to host a bikini car wash in support of the project. While there will be no bikinis, Origin is holding the Amelia Hursin Garden Fundraiser on Tuesday (July 14) at Canmore’s Dirty Dog Car Wash in her honour. All proceeds will go toward seeds, equipment, soil and plants needed to keep the garden program going.

“She really wanted to do that,” said Nielsen. "I’m sad she can’t be there for it." “Fundraising is important because we've set such a high bar that and it costs money to maintain and keep [the garden] as nice as it is.”

Beyond the purple poppies and rosebushes dotting the property, Hursin is remembered for her kindness, compassion, resilience and a little bit of spunk. “She planted a marijuana plant in the front just to get the people talking,” said Nielsen with a laugh, adding Hursin would often bring back seeds from her trips and sneakily plant them in the garden. “She was just good with teaching you patience and just to have faith that what we plant now in the fall will come in the spring,” said Nielsen.

“She [left] a big void,” added Young. “We just had so much fun whatever we did with her. 'I might not be here tomorrow,’ she always said in a very huffy kind of way, ‘But I've had a good time,’ and she'd laugh.”

“Then she'd go and get a glass of scotch,” added Lynn Cooper, a close friend of Hursin’s and garden committee member, recalling Hursin’s stash of the “good stuff” behind the bar. From planting to deadheading, all residents can take part in garden care, says Cooper, noting the opportunity enhances quality of life for residents and gives them an avenue to get active outside. “I'm just so proud of where this is going in today's times,” she said, adding that the nearby daycare visits and plays in the garden.

“We're now developing a little garden for them. It’s intergenerational.” A section of the garden is dedicated as a memorial where residents who have passed away are honoured with a flower, Cooper adds.

“Aging is about what did I leave behind? And I think all of us want to leave some legacy behind, to pass it on, and this garden is the best example I've ever seen of connection and love and sharing and working things out.” While they carry on her vision for the garden, Cooper and Young hold Hursin’s words close to their hearts.

“‘Those who touch our lives stay in our hearts forever and every gardener is an artist and a student. A person who sows seeds never dies and ever grows to increasing happiness and inner spiritual peace. You can't find anything better than that,’” Cooper said.

The Amelia Hursin Garden Fundraiser runs from 1-4 p.m. It costs $10 a car. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. This position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.