Lowell Rocks comes to Gardner to spread the memory of the late Ron Archambault

GARDNER — In the wake of her husband's death, Lowell resident Shirley Archambault is spreading kindness in his memory through her Kindness Rocks project.

In 2020, Archambault's husband, Ron, slipped into a coma after contracting COVID-19 and died due to complications from the virus. Archambault said she misses her husband every day and all she wants is to keep his memory alive as along as she can.

"He was such a good man to everyone, and his family and friends all loved him," Archambault said. "I want to continue to spread the love and care that he gave us when he was here. Ron's memory deserves to continue."

Laura Pelletier of Gardner is Archambault's childhood friend, and she has assisted Archambault throughout the creation of the Lowell Rocks project.

"I just want to see Shirley smile," Pelletier said. "She has been through a lot with Ron's death and with long COVID-19 changing her life, I just want to make her happy and put a smile on her face."

Archambault had the idea of starting Lowell Rocks for the past couple of years but was never able to push herself to do it. Until Monday, May 9, when Archambault shared her first post on the Lowell Rocks Facebook page with the hashtag Ron's Rocks.

Making and painting each rock by hand

Archambault hand molds and paints each rock with a word, pattern, logo, or cartoon of her choice. The rocks are distributed to Pelletier, other close friends, and family members to hide them throughout the several communities in Central Massachusetts.

"Ron's rocks are all over the place not just in Lowell, we had people find them in Boston even in Florida," Archambault said. "There is a rock that ended up in Greece. Ron's love is spreading all over the place."

Pelletier said she has started hiding Lowell's kindness rocks in the Greater Gardner community.

"When we hide a new batch of rocks we post a photo that hints where the rocks are so people can find them," Pelletier said. "We also ask people to take a picture with the rocks when they find them to share it on Facebook with the hashtag Ron's Rocks."

Out of the hundreds of rocks that Archambault has hand created and Pelletier has hidden, only a small percentage of the rocks have been found.

"We have only seen a handful of rocks being found because we can tell by how many post are shared with the hashtag," Archambault said. "We really can't have an accurate number but I like to think more people are finding the rocks and they are not posting about it."

How to help

Both women said if anyone from the greater Gardner community wants to help Archambault continue to spread Ron's legacy, they should contact Pelletier on Facebook at Laura Renaud Pelletier to donate supplies or to share posts on Facebook with the hashtag Ron's Rocks.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Wife honors the memory of her husband through Kindness Rocks project