08/09/2018
Many people don’t see cemeteries as a number one priority in their community. This is true of many cemeteries not just Ghost Hill.
One important thing to emphasize when it comes to preservation of graveyards, is the proper way to restore an abandoned cemetery. Even though most cemeteries are different and unique in their own way, one guideline to follow when restoring them is to preserve the cultural heritage and traditions that the cemetery represents.
Across the country, grassroots organizations are springing up in small towns to take care of forgotten cemeteries. Those burial plots along the road, in someone’s backyard, or connected to an old church are often not maintained, the occupants’ relatives having moved on long ago. But cemeteries are part of our collective history, and their gravestones tell stories of people who once lived, worked, loved, and prospered in our area are memorialized by a few carved sentences.
Cemeteries, burials, and human remains have a special place in all human cultures from earliest times to the present. Special care for ancestors and for the dead is one of the defining traits of being human. Few concerns in our daily lives rise to the same level of importance as ensuring the respectful and proper treatment of the dead.
Why do forgotten cemeteries die?
First, let's address why cemeteries "die." Most die because they are abandoned, but that begs the question -- why are they abandoned? There are, of course, many reasons, but the two most common problems are:
Abandoned because the family has moved away or "died off." No living family members or member of the community feel a personal connection to those who are buried there.
Abandoned because of the age. The cemetery was once a commercial venture, but today it is full and, lacking any perpetual care funds, there is no money to maintain the graves. The owner or church organization has simply abandoned the property.
Each of these leads to other problems. For example, many cemeteries have what those involved in maintenance might consider "design flaws," such as fences and coping, that prevent easy maintenance. So maintenance is avoided. Or the cemeteries are located in areas where access is difficult, like at Ghost Hill, which is located on a steep embankment behind a modern day trailer park making maintenance efforts difficult and sporadic.
There are some community volunteer groups that want to do the "right thing" and begin to "restore" a cemetery. People band together for a short period of cemetery cleaning, but fail to follow through -- the work is never completed, or is completed but nothing is put in place to maintain the cemetery after this one effort.
So again, I am asking for some volunteers to help clean up GHOST HILL CEMETARY come fall. If you can volunteer a day, a few hours or even an hour of your time to help with the cleanup, please leave a mention in the comments and I will try to come up with a good date and time for all of us.
