Chief Justice Kay McFarland was the first woman to be appointed to the Kansas Supreme Court in 1995. Before her passing at the age of 80 in 2015, her dream was to leave behind a legacy of beauty and contemplation for the people of Kansas and for all who visited the Topeka Zoo.
“Kay’s preferences really leaned towards plants, rocks, water and koi, and the more we talked the more we learned that these are all tenets of a Japanese garden,” says Brendan Wiley, director of the Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center. “She wanted a beautiful experience that needed to be serene, where a person could contemplate. That was a powerful notion to her. That idea that you needed to go to a serene place where your mind can truly reflect and contemplate.”
The Kay E. McFarland Living Trust, a permanent endowment fund, was established to pay for the costs of the garden and for improvements to the zoo. Along with Brendan, good friends of the late chief justice, Howard and Elaine Schwartz, oversee the trust.
“She was able to see some really fantastic gardens all over the U.S. as well as in Vancouver, [Canada], and that experience was something she wanted to bring back to her own state,” says Elaine.
Through Brendan, Chief Justice McFarland was able to see for herself the magnificent relationship that the zoo staff had with the animals. “I think that made her feel that she could trust the zoo to do something good with her estate,” adds Elaine. “And when she and Brendan started talking about the garden, that just cemented the deal.”
Kay’s Garden was dedicated in August of 2020 after many years of discussion and planning. Garden Master Koji Morimoto helped bring these plans to fruition and when finished, the result was a truly authentic Japanese garden.
“One of the unique things about a Japanese garden is that everything is intentional,” says Brendan. “And because they are authentic in nature, there’s no signage in them.”
Visitors to the garden, he explains, can download an app for the Topeka Zoo or Kay’s Garden to find out more about the symbolism throughout the garden and to discover the names of the lush plants and colorful flowers.
“To the right of the garden entrance, Koji told me that the boulder is there for me to put all of my discontent on so when I walk into the garden, I can experience it without that discontentment, the way the garden should be experienced,” he says.
Visitors are given the option of taking two different pathways. “At the top of the garden, you have a pathway with the seven bridges that’s more difficult to cross, and on the other side is the more flowing, easy going downhill one,” says Elaine.
Koji also explained to her that there are five different waterfalls and each one of them has a different sound. “So, if you’re out there contemplating on what’s going on in your life and you hear a different waterfall sound it can speak to you - maybe better than therapy.”
From a small red bridge in the garden, visitors can see the lantern of the eternal flame. “To me, the eternal flame is the light that shines in each of us,” says Elaine.
For people who want to support this wonderful garden and amazing zoo, making donations and buying annual Topeka Zoo passes are incredibly helpful. “We depend on donations and people can go to the garden page or call me,” says Brendan.
To find out more, go to https://topekazoo.org/kaysgarden/ and to https://topekazoo.org/.