Lake Havasu’s Trail of Tears

Lake Havasu City is beautiful. They’ve got the London Bridge, a man-made island, mountains in the distance, really cool trails, and all the activities you could ever desire. And like a lot of cities, they’ve gotten creative with ways to raise money for things like parks instead of raising taxes. Enter the Commemorative Tree/Bench Program:

The Lake Havasu City Commemorative Tree/Bench Program is a community-wide program initiated by the Keep Havasu Beautiful committee in an effort to add to the aesthetic beauty of the city. For the past 20 years this program has contributed to the sale of over 2100 plaques that have been placed throughout the city.

And because Lake Havasu is a retiree town when it’s not a spring-break town, there’s been a lot of participation. Walking through Rotary Park to the London Bridge, we passed maybe a hundred dedicated trees and/or benches. It was wonderful until it turned depressing. It’s almost like walking through a cemetery, but instead of a person’s last words, you get their loved ones’ last feelings. It’s sad if you start reading them. I couldn’t stop. I photographed them too.

But perhaps I’m looking at this the wrong way? Here are a ton of people that loved this town. If I was looking at it half-full, I’d say it’s a joyous stroll through fond memories.

Click a thumbnail to load the gallery.

Note: I’ll be adding more pics this weekend — the internet ain’t great right now.

Update (12/27): Everything’s up-to-date.