WATERVILLE -- There's something about a garden that helps to soothe the pain of loss, encourages contemplation and inspires hope.

Perhaps it is the quiet, the beauty in the flowers, the promise of rebirth.

Those who work for Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area plan to build such a garden for just that purpose next to the center at 304 Main Street.

It will be a beautiful garden, says Dale Marie Clark, executive director for the nonprofit organization.

"People can just go in there and sit and 'be,' or enjoy the sounds of the birds, and there may be times as well that groups will meet," she said.

Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area is a nonprofit organization that provides free services to terminally ill people and their families in 27 communities. It also offers grief support groups for people of all ages, a lending library and education outreach to schools, hospitals, churches and the workplace.

Hospice is trying to raise funds for the memorial garden, estimated to cost $10,000. It will be 130-by-100-by-70 feet in size.

The garden, designed by volunteer Mary Jo Carlsen, will feature trees, flowers and benches, as well as meandering and circular paths.

"The main thing in the garden will be a 10-by-20-foot rectangular cabin," Carlsen said Thursday. "One of our board members is going to build this. It will have screens; it will be very rustic."

Benches will be placed both inside the cabin and in the garden itself; there will also be a sitting area under a tree on the site.

"It's just going to be a natural garden," Carlsen said.

Clark said Hospice received a $1,000 donation to get the ball rolling, and people are donating in other ways.

On Wednesday, Jeanne Dube, of Sidney, is going to host a jewelry party at the Hospice center to benefit the memorial garden fund. The party is being billed "Flutter By for the Hospice" and will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Everyone is welcome -- even men who may want to buy something special for their wives or significant others, Clark said.

Dube, a three-year Hospice volunteer, sells Lia Sophia Jewelry and plans to donate 100 percent of the profits from the sale of jewelry Wednesday to the garden effort.

Guests will be encouraged to try on jewelry and enjoy free refreshments, which will include delicious chocolate desserts. Prizes will be handed out during the evening and a lucky person will go home with Lia Sophia's most popular piece, the Trish reversible necklace valued at $110, Dube said. As guests arrive at the party, they will enter their names in a drawing for the necklace.

"It's going to be fun," Dube said Thursday.

Like many Hospice volunteers, Dube joined the organization after seeing how it helped a family member who was terminally ill.

"I took the training and have been here ever since," she said. "It's an honor, really, to be involved in someone's life at such a vulnerable time. I get more out of it than they probably do."

Carlsen also felt compelled to give her best effort to Hospice by donating her gardening skills.

"It's just my passion," she said. "I just went to them (Hospice officials) and said 'I'd love to create an outdoor area for you.'"

The garden will be built with buffers to accommodate neighbors and those using the garden. Work is scheduled to start this summer.

"We're a community center, so the garden will be for the community to come and sit and enjoy the solace," Clark said.

Anyone wanting to donate to the garden may contact Hospice at 873-3615 or send donations to the organization at 304 Main St. Waterville, ME 04901.

Clark said a smaller memorial garden will be planted in front of Hope's Place, a grieving center for children located next door to Hospice on Main Street. That garden will be called "Sue's Garden," in memory of Susan McConnell, Hope's Place's first youth services coordinator, who died last month in a motorcycle accident.

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com