Hello list members!
I recently joined the Washington Co., TN cemetery
project to help record our couties cemeteries. The
lady that heads this project sent this email today. I
am forwarding it hoping that someone out there has
already gone through this and has found a solution.
Can anyone give me any tips, suggestions, what has
worked for you in preserving neglected cemeteries? Any
help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Lori Craiger
Limestone, TN
About two weeks ago, I wrote to Mayor Duffie Jones
requesting her help
in getting the Jacob Hoss Cemetery cleared. She
referred my letter to
the Johnson City Public Works. I got a call from
Pat. Pat
explained that the city does not clear off
cemeteries but they work
with the Sheriff's Department and she had faxed a
copy of my letter to
Sheriff Graybeal. Pat is keeping my name and phone
number in case she
hears about any cemeteries. Sheriff Graybeal
telephoned me and is
interested in helping us. He requested that Sgt.
Robertson work
with us. Today at 1 p.m. Dawn and I met with Sgt.
Robertson and got
some information about what they can and can not do.
They can not use DOT grant money to clean up
cemeteries. Sheriff
Graybeal says that they have a little county
equipment that can be used
for that purpose. They do not clean up church
cemeteries, cemeteries
that have a trust funds or board of directors.
Mainly they will do old
abandoned cemeteries about once a year, if
requested. If they have to
cross private land to get to a cemetery, the
property owner has to sign
a letter, giving permission. Dawn and I are going to
work up a form
letter that can be used. I'm sure some of these
farmers aren't going to
take time to write a letter to Sheriff Graybeal but
they might fill in
their name and address. We'll forward a copy to each
of you later.
With the cutbacks from the State, Johnson City,
Jonesborough and
Washington County are depending on the Community
Service Crews to fill
in. Her calendar for May and most of June was
already booked.
We need to find people who will take over a cemetery
after it is
cleared and keep it that way. A weed eating once a
month and some
Roundup during growing season should do the job. I
was thinking about
Community Service Clubs, Boy Scouts, Sunday School
Groups or just
individuals who would like to preserve history and
make the community
look good. Has anyone heard about the Chamber of
Commerce's adopt a
spot program?
Do any of you know of someone or way that we could
get a grant or
sponsor to get signs with the cemetery name put at
these cemeteries
that aren't a church cemetery? We need help along
this line.
After I get back from Salt Lake City next week, I'll
contact the
newspaper and see about getting an article in the
paper about our
project. Sheriff Graybeal and Sgt. Robertson is
encouraging us to "go
public."
I would appreciate your thoughts and some feed back
about our project.
__________________________________
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