SPRINGBROOK, P.E.I. - Rain drizzled down on Mickey the Clydesdale as the gentle giant waited patiently beside the church.
Slowly, a hearse pulled up to meet the black and white draft horse.
The trunk of the vehicle opened and the pallbearers carried the coffin onto a small cart, pulled by Mickey, who, with a signal from her handler, started the short journey to the grave.
It was Wayne Bernard’s last ride and a represented a promise fulfilled by an old friend.
Bernard, 70, of Mayfield, passed away on Dec. 9. He was buried in the Geddie Memorial Cemetery in Springbrook on Wednesday.
Driving the century-old wagon that carried Wayne to his final resting place was Elwin Sharpe, with Gary Allen in the passenger seat.
Sharpe approached Wayne’s family shortly after his friend’s death, asking if they’d consider letting him fulfill an old gentleman’s agreement. They agreed.
“About 20 or 25 years ago we used to be building wagons and stuff like that,” recalled Sharpe.
“We had the idea that if one fella went, the other would take him to the grave,” he said, his voice cracking.
“You do an honour. It’s got to be done, so lets do it right.”
“About 20 or 25 years ago we used to be building wagons and stuff like that ... We had the idea that if one fella went, the other would take him to the grave. You do an honour. It’s got to be done, so lets do it right.”
-Elwin Sharpe
Wayne was well known in the Island’s horseman community.
His knowledge of horses, especially the big draft varieties, was extensive. He consulted with a few TV programs over the years, including the locally produced “Emily of New Moon.” He also provided wagon and sleigh rides to special occasions for many years.
He was probably best known though for being the kindly, bearded, and perennially overall-wearing stableman of Cavendish’s Avonlea Village. There’s a barn named in his honour there and he loved taking the visitors for rides and telling them stories.
Paul Bernard, one of Wayne’s sons, said his dad would have loved his friends’ gesture.
“We just thought that was a fitting end,” said Paul.
Though, he added, once it was determined that a horse and wagon would help Wayne along to his resting place, they thought they should make sure he was dressed appropriately. He was buried in a new pair of bib overalls, with his straw hat.
His dad would have been amused to no end by the arrangements and probably couldn’t have seen himself going out any other way, said Paul.
