A new feature has arrived at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library this summer that aims to help those who’ve lost a loved one gain some peace of mind.
NOTL Community Palliative Care Services unveiled the installation of a wind phone in the library’s backyard on Friday, a disconnected phone where people can get the feeling of talking to those who have died and are no longer in their lives.
Those who pick up the phone will hear not a dial tone or silence but, instead, the sound of wind.
“This wind phone is our heartfelt gift to the community,” said Bonnie Bagnulo, the palliative care group’s executive director. “A place where healing and conversations can happen, even in silence.”
The phone is usually put in a calming place, and the NOTL library is no exception. It’s placed in the backyard right near the community garden and outdoor labyrinth, where the unveiling was held, in a quiet and subdued 15-minute ceremony, attended by a couple of dozen people.
The wind phone installed at the library is a vintage-style candlestick phone, which Bagnulo said was chosen out of several possible designs, from plastic phones and rotary phones to wall phones.
“We’ve chosen this one with weatherized veneer,” said Bagnulo. “Hopefully, it will withstand the elements.”
The wind phone concept started in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. As many people were missing loved ones after the disaster, the phone served as a way for them to feel as if they were with them.
The idea has since been exported all over the world and now has come to NOTL. Bagnulo said the palliative care group’s interest in installing one started in 2023.
“We started thinking about it a couple years ago, right after COVID,” Bagnulo said. “It took us a while to shop for the phone, shop for the location and show exactly what this would look like for our community.”
“I had sent an email to the town councillors and asked the councillors if they would be interested in coming aboard with this.”
Bagnulo said she got in touch with Coun. Maria Mavridis about the idea, and from there connected with Lauren Kruitbosch, associate director of the office of the CAO, Kevin Turcotte, parks and recreation manager, and Debbie Krause, the library’s community engagement co-ordinator, who also thought the library would be a good location.
Bagnulo said that her organization had done displays before where people could express their grief, such as their butterfly releases.
But she hopes this display will give another way for people already in a quiet place to also properly grieve at whatever time they choose.
“We hope it’s able to bring comfort, connection and a small measure of peace to those navigating a bereavement journey,” said Bagnulo. “Our volunteers said a wind phone is connected to nowhere and everywhere, all at once.”
In Niagara, there are also wind phones in Grimsby, St. Catharines, Lincoln and Fonthill.
You can find out more about wind phones, including where they are, at mywindphone.com.
daniel@niagaranow.com