Thought I'd let you know that Chris Turner, a reporter for the Fox Affiliate
in Louisville (WDRB-41) who has in the past given us some fine coverage on
the Clark County Cemetery Preservation Committee, did a really nice piece on
tonight's 10:00 news about the pioneer cemetery crisis in Indiana.
I met Chris and his cameraman at Grayson Cemetery
(
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5881/graysoncem.html) with my
friends Donnie and Carol Loweth and their children. They shot a good deal
of footage there, including a shot of me sticking a yardstick two feet down
into a pit where a woman's remains were dug up 30 years ago and the hole has
never been filled in. (This is on city-owned property, believe it or not.)
My boss called me right after the piece aired and said, "Man, you're getting
really good at handling the press and you've really learned how to turn a
phrase!" I thought that was pretty cool coming from him, even though I
shudder when I see and hear myself on TV!
I threw a couple of my favorite lines at them --
"If we do not respect the dead, how can we possibly respect the
living?"
"When your children or grandchildren come to you and ask where YOUR
grandmother is buried, do you want to have to tell them she's buried under a
parking lot or that her grave was plowed up years ago or that her remains
are sitting in a laboratory for 'archeological research'?"
"At what point did my ancestors' remains become a 'natural
resource'?"
[I stole that last one from Ron Baldwin.
Hope you don't mind, Ron.]
"At exactly what point do the graves of our parents, grandparents
and great-grandparents become 'disposable'?"
Chris broadcast one piece tonight and intends to do at least one follow-up
piece before coming to Indianapolis with us on Monday, February 8th, when we
testify before the House of Representatives' Committee on Agriculture,
Natural Resources and Rural Development.
I've also invited him to attend the Southern Indiana Genealogical Society
meeting on Thursday night, February 4th, and the Clark County Cemetery
Preservation Committee meeting on February 6th, which State Rep. Jim
Bottorff is scheduled to attend.
Thought I'd tell you about this to encourage some of you to get in touch
with your local media to bring them up to speed on the situation and to,
hopefully, generate some press coverage in your area BEFORE the hearings on
2/8/99. It can certainly help to put some pressure on the Legislators from
the general public -- not just those "wackos" who like tromping around in
old cemeteries (meaning us).
You might want to print out the INPCRP webpages on existing legislation and
pending legislation and take that with you when you meet with the media.
Tell them about our "Hall of Shame". Suggest they visit the website if they
have questions about the INPCRP. There are a lot of good links there that
will lead them directly to the sources of the information.
Lois
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Have you signed an Indiana Pioneer Cemetery Restoration Project
PETITION TO THE INDIANA LEGISLATURE calling for revision of current
state laws regarding protection and maintenance of pioneer cemeteries?
See
http://www.rootsweb.com/~inpcrp
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Next meeting of the Clark County Cemetery Preservation Committee:
Saturday, Feb. 6, 1999 at 2 PM at Pleasant View Methodist Church on
Highway 60, near entrance to Deam's Lake, south of Borden
Website:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5881
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