The family of a young Salmon Arm man who died after falling through the ice on Shuswap Lake is asking the city to make an exception to allow a memorial plaque at Raven Park.
"Raven Park was such a special place for our son," reads a letter to city council from the family of Olly Willmot. The 18-year-old's body was recovered from the lake on Feb. 11, 2025, the day after he was reported to have disappeared into the frozen lake between the Raven subdivision and Sandy Point.
Olly's family said he loved the park and would play there for hours with his sister and friends, and would walk his dog there. They've requested a memorial plaque be placed on one of the park's existing benches, offering to pay for the installation and keep the bench clear of moss and debris.
"On one occasion, Olly accidentally lost his keys in the snow and when the snow melted a bit, a good neighbour placed them on one of the benches for him to later find," reads the letter. "The benches have a view of the lake, which Olly also loved and unfortunately became a tragic part of his story.
"On Olly's birthday this year, his friends played basketball in the park in his honour."
The family noted how at its Jan. 27, 2024 meeting, council struggled with a request for a memorial bench or plaque along the wharf at Marine Peace Park for Jim Nickles, a Salmon Arm firefighter of 14 years who retired in 2018 and went on to open Shuswap Total Fitness with wife Christine. This would have been an exception to a motion passed by council in November 2011, supporting the development McGuire Lake Memorial Walkway, in partnership with the Shuswap Community Foundation.
"Since then, the majority of memorial requests have been forwarded to the foundation for the installation of a memorial brick," commented engineering and public works director Rob Niewenhuizen at that time. "And the reason for this is when benches are installed or memorial plaques are installed on benches, they become part of the city's assets and we struggle with the continued maintenance of those鈥� we deal with vandalism and other sorts of things that happen鈥�"
With such memorial requests not being uncommon, after some discussion council chose to leave them in the hands of the Community Foundation.
"Jim Nickles was a great man, well loved by the community, for sure, and the city, but how do we decide if this plaque should go there and not someone else's," said Mayor Alan Harrison, noting the city has 31 benches at McGuire lake, one of the reasons for the policy. "I think we need to be consistent."
While recognizing that need, Olly's family "felt that we had to ask, since Raven Park was such a special place for our son."
The letter is on the agenda for the July 28 council meeting, which begins at 1 p.m. in council chambers.