{"id":34662,"date":"2022-08-01T18:27:06","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T22:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/?p=34662"},"modified":"2022-08-01T18:33:11","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T22:33:11","slug":"batavia-garden-party-celebrates-the-life-of-frances-bourdon-and-the-opening-of-a-memorial-garden-at-crossroads-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2022\/08\/01\/batavia-garden-party-celebrates-the-life-of-frances-bourdon-and-the-opening-of-a-memorial-garden-at-crossroads-house\/","title":{"rendered":"BATAVIA\/Garden party celebrates the life of Frances Bourdon and the opening of a Memorial Garden at Crossroads House"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A new Memorial Garden at Crossroads House was officially opened and dedicated on Sunday afternoon with the help of many volunteers and the family of Frances Menard Bourdon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bourdon passed away at Crossroads House in June of 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is her going away party, she just enjoyed herself here for seven weeks,” says her youngest daughter Denise Spadaccia. “We had made a donation and they came up with this idea of the Garden after talking with her all that time she was here. We just love it, this is where she would have been so happy to just be able to sit.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Garden is handicap accessible and families can plant something in memory of someone if they would like. Residents can also get their hands dirty and plant something if they would like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“She would go out there and we only had a few flowers (in 2019) and the Bourdon Family left us a lot of money to make what we now have, and we wanted them to see how we honored their mother,” says Executive Director at Crossroads House, Charlotte Crawford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bourdon spent the last seven weeks of her life at Crossroads House in Batavia after briefly moving in with her youngest daughter Denise Spadaccia in Batavia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had developed bone cancer after mass in her abdomen had metastasized when she was 92, but her family says she never let it slow her down.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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She lived most of her 94 years outdoors working her vegetable gardens and flower beds in Cobleskill, NY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s where she loved to be. Outdoors, that’s where she found peace and contentment,” says Spadaccia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leslie Moma, a Landscape Designer from RED GREEN Building and Landscape Design volunteered her time to design the new Memorial Garden after Bourdon had passed in 2019. The Pandemic slowed the process down as materials for the garden were difficult to obtain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“They wanted expertise in how to navigate the space to there could be a walking path, a place for seating, areas for quiet reflection and then put in elements that make a garden this tiny cohesive and have all the elements that make for relaxation and a holistic type of garden,” says Moma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Crossroads House volunteers-front row-Cindy Lowder\/Volunteer\/Garden caretaker, back row-left to right-Sue Chiddy\/Volunteer\/Garden caretaker, Cathy Winding\/Garden Party organizer\/volunteer for 21 years, Charlotte Crawford\/Executive Director, Jane Finn\/Volunteer, Tom Finn\/Volunteer<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After coming up with themes for the families and relatives, the garden was planted by volunteers at Crossroads House. Volunteers Cindy Lowder and Sue Chiddy take care of the Memorial Garden daily along with four other volunteers. Other community members assisted with installing the pathway and the furniture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Not only is this garden for their loved one who is here, but it’s also an opportunity for the family member to come and remember as well. It’s just beautiful,” says Moma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cathy Winding, a 21-year volunteer at Crossroads House, organized the Garden Party for the Bourdon Family on Sunday afternoon. She says it’s a privilege to do this for Bourdon Family and their mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You feel love, they are so appreciative of what we did for them, but they don’t realize what their mom did for us. Because when you help someone pass its tremendous feeling. It’s a privilege to help them go to the next place in life,” says Winding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Frances Menard Bourdon was the epitome of beauty, strength and grace, and looked for sunshine in every day according to her family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her seven weeks at Crossroads House in 2019, Frances was able to be with her family and just share time with them. All of them. Her family of 4 children and their spouses along with her 10 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Family of Frances Bourdon-Left to right-front-Katie Ruszala with son Joseph, Michael Ruszala, Sarah Ciupek, Denise Spadaccia, Mary Lou Bailey-Left to right-back-Larry Spadaccia, John Bourdon, Jim Bourdon, Claudia Bourdon and Ernie Bailey<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Thats the best thing, being able to be all together, the accommodating nature of the place and have kitchen access and just be able to do the care that we couldn’t do. Thats what she wanted. she wanted us to be just her family not her caregivers. She was our mom, she would rather have someone else do the caregiving and we could just be present. Thats what mattered to her, our presence,” says Spadaccia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A new Memorial Garden at Crossroads House was officially opened and dedicated on Sunday afternoon with the help of many volunteers and the family of Frances Menard Bourdon. Bourdon passed away at Crossroads House in June of 2019. “This is her going away party, she just enjoyed herself here for \u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[2805,3197],"class_list":["post-34662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batavia","tag-crossroads-house","tag-memorial-garden"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8eTP4-914","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39146,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2023\/01\/17\/batavia-crossroads-house-will-mark-25-years-of-comfort-care-in-genesee-county-with-an-anniversary-gala-at-the-end-of-the-month-the-founder-hopes-to-open-a-second-home-in-the-near-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":34662,"position":0},"title":"BATAVIA\/Crossroads House will mark 25 years of comfort care in Genesee County with an Anniversary Gala at the end of the month, the founder hopes to open a second home in the near future","author":"aka","date":"January 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Crossroads House will mark 25 years of being in the Genesee County community on Saturday January 28th at their Red-Carpet Gala at Batavia Downs\/Park Place Center-Tickets are available at crossroadshouse.com A chat with Crossroads House founder Kathy Panepento on why Crossroads House is so important to the community. When the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20230116_131703-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20230116_131703-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20230116_131703-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20230116_131703-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20230116_131703-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":76266,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2026\/06\/20\/batavia-butterfly-garden-dedicated-at-crossroads-house-on-saturday\/","url_meta":{"origin":34662,"position":1},"title":"BATAVIA\/Butterfly Garden dedicated at Crossroads House on Saturday","author":"aka","date":"June 20, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Press release The Vicki Mager Memorial Butterfly Garden was dedicated at 10am this morning in a private ceremony with the Mager family in honor of their support. Vicki spent her final days at Crossroads House and she loved butterflies.\u00a0 We are deeply grateful to the Mager family for their generosity\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260620_114826-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260620_114826-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260620_114826-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260620_114826-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260620_114826-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67890,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/09\/06\/batavia-crossroads-house-holds-first-memorial-butterfly-release\/","url_meta":{"origin":34662,"position":2},"title":"BATAVIA\/Crossroads House holds first Memorial Butterfly Release","author":"aka","date":"September 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Executive Director Tracy Ford brought the idea to Crossroads House after seeing a live butterfly release at a local caregiver facility. \"They need to be released ideally at 65 degrees and above and if it's raining the rain could weigh their wings down, so we were a little stressed this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250906_115544-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C706&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250906_115544-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C706&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250906_115544-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C706&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250906_115544-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C706&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250906_115544-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C706&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47839,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2023\/10\/20\/batavia-seniors-from-bhs-participate-in-make-a-difference-day-on-friday\/","url_meta":{"origin":34662,"position":3},"title":"BATAVIA\/Seniors from BHS participate in “Make A Difference Day” on Friday","author":"aka","date":"October 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Students at Batavia Cemetery helped with picking up leaves Now in its 24th year, \"Make A Difference Day\" brought students from the senior class at BHS out into the community on Friday to give back to the many organizations in the City of Batavia. Students assisted the organizations in whatever\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1000066690-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1000066690-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1000066690-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1000066690-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1000066690-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44450,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2023\/07\/16\/batavia-crossroads-house-holds-first-business-after-hours-event-to-thank-the-community-and-celebrate-25-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":34662,"position":4},"title":"BATAVIA\/Crossroads House holds first Business After Hours event to thank the community and celebrate 25 years","author":"aka","date":"July 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Left to right-Vicki Johnson\/Director of Development, Joni Patri\/Board of Directors, Tom Staebell\/Interim Director, and Sara Brunner\/Coordinator of Volunteer Services Crossroads House is celebrating 25 years in the community this year with a new Interim Director Crossroads House held their first Business After Hours\/Schmoozer in the Garden event put on by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713_182738-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C1036&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713_182738-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C1036&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713_182738-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C1036&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713_182738-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C1036&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713_182738-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C1036&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39589,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2023\/01\/29\/batavia-crossroads-house-celebrates-25-years-of-compassionate-care-at-the-red-carpet-gala-at-batavia-downs\/","url_meta":{"origin":34662,"position":5},"title":"BATAVIA\/Crossroads House celebrates 25 years of compassionate care at the Red-Carpet Gala at Batavia Downs","author":"aka","date":"January 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Board of Directors\/Crossroads House-January 28, 2023 Crossroads House of Batavia celebrated 25 years in the community with a Red-Carpet Gala at Batavia Downs on Saturday evening. The event celebrated all who have volunteered at Batavia's only comfort care home and all who are part of the Crossroads House community, including\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20230128_194615-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C848&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20230128_194615-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C848&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20230128_194615-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C848&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20230128_194615-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C848&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/20230128_194615-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C848&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220731_141644-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1597&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34662"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34763,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34662\/revisions\/34763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}