Time of Remembering Event Offers Sandy Community Space to Grieve

Mt. Hood Hospice’s annual gathering opens Meinig Memorial Park to support the families of 200 deceased people.

The annual Time of Remembering event at Meinig Memorial Park in 2023. (Courtesy of Mt. Hood Hospice)
By Vinny White

Grieving can be a difficult, exhausting and lonely ordeal. It can be hard for even the most well-intentioned people to understand what people in mourning go through as they process their loss. On Aug. 29, Mt. Hood Hospice will host Time of Remembering, a communal event at Sandy’s Meinig Memorial Park to remember the departed and support the bereaved. People are invited to grieve with individuals going through similar pain.

Together, attendees will walk through Meinig Park’s towering Douglas firs. The park’s walking paths will be lined with luminaria, with the trees carrying portraits of people who have passed away. Two hundred people submitted by grieving families will be memorialized during the event.

“We are building a grief-literate community for people to connect and support each other through major life change,” director of bereavement services Laura Lirette said in a press release.

While participants roam the grounds, Kate Seat and Heather Michet of the Portland Threshold Singers will serenade the crowd with live a capella and acoustic music. The Veterans of Foreign War’s Sandy post will contribute music by playing “Taps” once every hour of the event. “Taps” has historically been used at military funerals and memorials, and will play from the VFW’s Missing Man table, a section meant to honor prisoners of war and soldiers who are missing in action. The Sandy Public Library will have a selection of grief-related books available to check out at the park.

And for those who prefer to express their emotions artistically, Avamere—an assisted living company—will provide materials to paint memorial stones.

Over 1,500 people attended last year’s Time of Remembering. With the event run entirely by volunteers, Mt. Hood Hospice’s staff is passionate about shedding light on healthy ways to grieve. This effort goes beyond the Time of Remembering event, as Mt. Hood Hospice offers free support groups that it hopes to bring further awareness to.

“Our goal is to help increase awareness that community support is available for people accompanying those with terminal illness or adjusting after a death,” Lirette said. “Both can be very isolating and lonely experiences. It takes community collaboration to help people find out that support is available and accessible.”

SEE IT: Time of Remembering at Meinig Memorial Park, 17670 Meinig Ave., Sandy, mthoodhospice.com. 5:30–7:30 pm Monday, Aug. 29. Free.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.