Picnic table, plaque installed in Chilliwack park in memory of five-year-old Weston

There is now a little spot where people can sit at a Chilliwack park dedicated to a five-year-old boy who lost his life earlier this year.

A picnic table with a metal plaque in memory of Weston Jay Manley Schwarzfeld was installed at Chehalis Park in Garrison this past week.

Weston was killed by a falling tree during an hike in Yarrow with Leap for Joy Open Air preschool on Aug. 18, 2020. He died just eight days before his sixth birthday.

READ MORE: Five-year-old boy killed by fallen tree in Chilliwack identified by father

Earlier this week the foundation was poured for the picnic table and on Friday, Dec. 18, the table was installed at the north side of the playground.

“Our sweet boy and the best big brother. Full of love, kindness and joy. Forever missed; forever loved,” reads the message on the plaque.

The picnic table is a fitting fixture in the park for people to remember the young boy who enjoyed hiking and playing outdoors.

“Weston was out in nature doing what he loved to do: exploring, chatting with friends, and learning,” his father, Glen Abel, wrote in a Facebook post on Aug. 20.

The preschool operators shared their condolences with the family in a public Facebook post on Aug. 21.

“He will be a part of us forever,” the statement reads. “His little sun screen face that was not rubbed in all the way, his twinkling eyes that in seven days reached into our souls, his exuberance to experience everything in front of him from catching grasshoppers, to making fishing rods, to reading stories on the forest floor, he did with the biggest smile.”

Chehalis Park is located at Chehalis Drive and Cowichan Street in Garrison Crossing.

– with files from Jessica Peters