New wind phone installed, meant to connect people with loved ones who’ve died

A wind phone installed at EcoPark in Stayner, Ont. in May 2026. (Clearview Township)

Next time you’re in Stayner, you might notice a new and unique installation.

In a partnership between Hospice Georgian Triangle Foundation and Clearview Township, a device has been installed give grieving people an outlet to symbolically reach out to family members or friends who have died.

That device is a wind phone, which is a vintage or old-fashioned style phone set up in a natural and peaceful environment meant to allow people to connect loved ones to those they’ve lost.

In this case, it’s a rotary-style phone, which the public can access by opening the latch on a little door of a wooden house and picking up the phone.

The Town says the installation offers community members a meaningful place for reflection, remembrance and healing.

Located next to the EcoPark in Memorial Forest, the wind phone serves as a complement to the forest, which is home to trees that symbolize the memories of people who have died.

Wind phones were first created in Japan in 2010 when a disconnected phone booth became a place of comfort for people following the 2011 tsunami.