Jack Heppner is synonymous with the beginning and development of Altona’s Community Garden, and Saturday morning a statue was unveiled in his honour recognizing his vision, hard worked and generosity that helped grow the garden and helped it flourish for all to enjoy. The Altona Community Action Network (ACAN), which manages the garden, commissioned local artist Ken Loewen to create it out of old garden tools..
Driven by a desire to have a garden and grow their own food when he and his wife moved from Steinbach to Altona in 2017, Jack Heppner took the reins of the small grassroots effort started by Jim Perry-Hill in 2015 and came on as manager of the gardens. He served in that role until the Fall of 2024 when he retired, and Joel Martin took over.
Heppner played an integral role in the expansion of the garden, and also the leading the effort to create the pavilion and park-like space at its entry.
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“All this came about because Jack posed the question, ‘What if,” said Martin during his remarks to the crowd, who along with Jason Peters and Heppner formed the committee in 2017 which started the garden’s journey to what it is today. “Jack poured his love and soul into this project. He worked tirelessly, and put in many hours to make it happen. His enthusiasm for the garden was infectious and he got people to rally behind him.”
Martin noted it was a pleasure working with him.
“We at ACAN are so grateful for your contribution. not only to the garden, but in helping make Altona more beautiful and a beautiful place,” he shared with those in attendance. “We are proud of you, and thank you for the privilege to have worked alongside you.”
“Jack had a vision”
ACAN Board Chair Joanne Wiebe explained the group wanted some way to acknowledge not only the creation of the community garden, but the continuation of it and what it represents to the community.
“We’ve tried to honour Jack in various ways, but the idea was presented what about a statue, or something permanent to commemorate him,” she said. “We also wanted to gather again as the founders of the garden, and all the people who’ve supported Jack over the years, and present this to him and just acknowledge all his work and acknowledge it with something special.”
Wiebe noted Heppner had a vision, and referred to Martin’s comment regarding how he always kept asking questions.
“What if we could do more? What if we made it a little bigger,” she said. “He kept thinking big and always being consistent with his vision of being a place that’s welcoming, supporting newcomers and just being something important for our community.”
Altona’s Community Garden has turned into much more than a place to grow food close to home.
“Jack had the vision of this being a welcoming place, an inclusive place for newcomers,” she said. “He mentioned the word paradise, too. Just a place where we can see a garden can mean so much more than just growing food. It’s a place to meet and to connect, and to know your neighbours and know your community. We’re just so happy this is here, we’ve managed to keep it going and continue to expand.”
A close up of the statue that was unveiled Saturday morning in honour of Jack Heppner’s contributions to the Altona Community Garden
“I’m totally overwhelmed”
During Heppner’s comments to the crowd, he noted several times how emotional a day it was, while also spending much of his remarks thanking those who made up the team that made the community garden a reality.
“I knew this sculpture was coming, I knew it last fall already and tried to prepare for this,” he shared. “I wasn’t quite prepared for the emotional response I had to all the people talking and showing appreciation. It feels very fulfilling. I feel grateful for everybody who worked with me, and it feels like a good conclusion to my chapter.”
Standing in the middle of the garden, next to the pavilion among supporters and the new statue, Heppner noted the entire story of the garden ran through his mind.
“I just realized the thousands and thousands of steps along the way,” he said. “The trial and error, and we tried this and it didn’t work, so let’s try that. Just keep plugging away, and just getting people on board who started taking ownership.”
Heppner specifically pointed to the garden becoming a meeting place for locals and newcomers alike as a special highlight for him.
“Well, that’s very special,” he said while noting the invitation to the statue unveiling was emailed in eight different languages reflecting the international community that is the garden now. “That sense we are here, and we could still have a sense of community. Even some of these people who spoke English quite poorly, they still showed appreciation for the work.”
Looking ahead to the future of the community garden, Heppner hopes it continues growing.
“I can see, and Joel is talking too, about doing different programming, maybe having special events at the pavilion or you have potlucks and stuff like that or maybe seminars,” he said. “I want the garden to be a happy place, and that’s what it seems to be. People are happy there.”
The statue erected in Heppner’s honour is located at the southwest corner of the pavilion.