The new Dr. Georges L. Whissell Park at the north end of Main Street in Westlock, formerly the site of Towne Square Park, is a fitting tribute to the man who served the community for 55 years.
It is a fitting tribute because it is the perfect demonstration of a community giving back to someone who gave so much of himself to that community.
Whissell moved to Westlock from Legal in 1942, after having moved there from Quebec in 1939.
He continued serving the Westlock community as physician until retiring in the early 1990s at the age of 85.
Whissell passed away in the spring of 2006 at 89.
The dedication he showed towards the Westlock community has not been forgotten, and his name now has another venue in which to live on in the annals of Westlock’s history.
The first is as the namesake of the area known as Whissellville, while it also lives on as the origin of the beautiful house to the north of the library and the white tower along Highway 18 east of Clyde.
And now, it will also serve as the namesake of the town’s newest greenspace.
And that dedication he showed has now been repaid in spades.
Members of the Westlock Blooms Foundation put more than 70 hours into tearing up the original park and replacing it with one that will surely been a gathering place for years to come.
Gone is the barren, parched grass with limited shade and a decided dearth of colour.
In its place is a plethora of new trees, shrubs and a colourful flowerbed surrounding a boulder emblazoned with a plaque commemorating Whissell.
In short, it’s a park where people will want to meet and gather, a place that will surely become a downtown destination.
It’s a place where Westlock’s lifeblood will flow, right in the heart of the town.
It’s a fitting tribute to a man who had a hand in the beginning of the lives of many of Westlock’s citizens for more than half a century.
