Community pours support onto revived fountain in Pioneer Memorial Park

By Matthew Nash • May 23, 2018 1:30 am
Priscilla Hudson, Sequim Prairie Garden Club member/historian, cuts the ribbon on May 16 to the refurbished fountain in Pioneer Memorial Park. She’s surrounded by dozens of community members including family members of the Lotzgesell family with Henry Lotzgesell donating a sizable amount in 1965 in honor of his wife Hazel to see the project come to fruition. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash
Priscilla Hudson, Sequim Prairie Garden Club member/historian, cuts the ribbon on May 16 to the refurbished fountain in Pioneer Memorial Park. She’s surrounded by dozens of community members including family members of the Lotzgesell family with Henry Lotzgesell donating a sizable amount in 1965 in honor of his wife Hazel to see the project come to fruition. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Community members gathered to celebrate water running once again over the top of Pioneer Memorial Park’s fountain.

More than 50 people attended the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce’s ribbon-cutting on May 16 with members of the Sequim Prairie Garden Club, City of Sequim staff and other community members next to the historic waterfall that faces East Washington Street.

The fountain was built in the fall of 1965 as a community project, said Priscilla Hudson, Sequim Prairie Garden Club member/historian, and its first major donor was Henry Lotzgesell, who donated about $600 in honor of the passing of his wife Hazel. The initial waterfall was about 5 feet high and 15 feet wide, and now the restored version is slightly smaller and features one waterfall.

“It’s not like it was, but I’m delighted to see water going over the top rock,” said Ronnie Rice, granddaughter of Henry and Hazel Lotzgesell. “It’s very beautiful.”

She and several members of the Lotzgesell family helped maintain the fountain and added decor over the years even as maintenance issues forced the fountain’s closure in the early 1990s.

Rice and two of her sisters, Laurel Gloor and Sidne Cameron were in attendance along with Gloria Lotzgesell Newton, Henry and Hazel’s daughter, and Holly Hatton, their great-granddaughter. In 2006, Gloria Lotzgesell funded a commemorative bench near the waterfall for her parents.

Garden club members began in 2014 opening up views into the park clearing out overgrowth and replacing it with various trees and shrubs. Later, City of Sequim staff consulted with the Lotzgesell family and garden club about what the new waterfall would look like.

The waterfall and its pond were revived late last year.

At the May 16 ceremony, David Garlington, Sequim Public Works director, Ty Brown, Sequim operations manager, Sequim Mayor Dennis Smith, and Hudson all briefly spoke before the crowd about the history of the project prior to conversation, live music, historic photos and refreshments in the Garden Club’s clubhouse.

Going forward, city staff will perform maintenance on the waterfall going forward, garden club volunteers said.

For more information, contact the City of Sequim Public Works Department at 360-683-4908.

Descendants of Henry and Hazel Lotzgesell, from left, Gloria Lotzgesell Newton, their daughter, Laurel Gloor, Sidne Cameron, Ronnie Rice, their granddaughters, and Holly Hatton, their great-granddaughter, stand by the recently refurbished pond that Henry helped pay to build in 1965, and over the years his family helped maintain. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Descendants of Henry and Hazel Lotzgesell, from left, Gloria Lotzgesell Newton, their daughter, Laurel Gloor, Sidne Cameron, Ronnie Rice, their granddaughters, and Holly Hatton, their great-granddaughter, stand by the recently refurbished pond that Henry helped pay to build in 1965, and over the years his family helped maintain. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Ty Brown, Sequim operations manager, speaks to the crowd on May 16 about how the city worked with the Lotzgesell family, Priscilla Hudson and other Sequim Prairie Garden Club members in refurbishing the fountain Pioneer Memorial Park. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Ty Brown, Sequim operations manager, speaks to the crowd on May 16 about how the city worked with the Lotzgesell family, Priscilla Hudson and other Sequim Prairie Garden Club members in refurbishing the fountain Pioneer Memorial Park. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash