Memorial unveiled at the Thorndale Library

Joe Facey, friend of Rob Harmer, and Rob Harmer’s wife, Nancy Harmer, unveil a memorial to Rob Harmer at the Thorndale Library.

By Nancy Abra

Recently, about a dozen members of the Thorndale Dinner Theatre committee gathered at the Thorndale Library to unveil a memorial to their friend and dinner theatre volunteer Rob Harmer.

Harmer was a talented artist and helped to build the sets for the theatre productions over the years. He also enjoyed spending time at the Thorndale Library and many of his sketches and paintings hung in the library in the featured local artist exhibits.

When Harmer passed away in June 2023 after a brief illness, the dinner theatre committee organized a collection. With the donated funds, they purchased a stone for the Memorial Rose Garden in Thorndale and a plant for his wife, Nancy Harmer. As Rob Harmer touched so many lives in the community with his endurance, love of life and his talent, there was money left over for the committee to do something at the library in his honour.

After many ideas were considered, the committee chose the perfect concept that expressed Rob Harmer’s artistic talent, while making the memorial functional and for children. The result is a beautiful hand-painted tree designed and painted by his good friend, Reed Needles, with three-dimensional metal leaves made by Practical Art in Stratford and hung in the tree by another good friend, Joe Facey.

The hope for this memorial is that children will proudly hang their artwork on the leaves of Rob Harmer’s tree to display their budding talent for all to see and admire.