While looking for locations where the armadillos were entering the cemetery, we realized that grapevines, poison ivy, and other brush were not just covering the north and east fences, but actually starting to damage the fence itself.
The board quickly decided that it was time to bring in a contractor to clear the fences as well as outside the fence all the way to our property lines. The four man crew started Wednesday, May 6 and worked every day until dark on Sunday, May 10. Not only did they clear the fences, they leveled the area between the fences and our property line so it could be mowed, cleaned up the dirt pile in the rear of the property, and even burned and buried all of the brush they removed. Here is some of the work in progress.
Some of the grapevines had grown over the wires in the fence and could not be removed.
The work is now completed and this is how the fencelines now look.
Unfortunately, now that the brush and vines have been removed the damage to the rear (east) fenceline is more obvious. Many of the metal posts and bars are bent and broken, and several of the concrete bases are cracked in two. To help stabilize the fence until repairs can be made, we were forced to install about a half dozen temporary T-Posts to keep the chain link mesh upright. We will be looking into the cost of repairing the rear fence and will communicate with the membership on this in August.
Membership dues and donations are the only way we could afford to do this project. It was expensive, the cost was equivalent to an entire years worth of dues from 50 members. Thanks to your support in 2019 we were able to do what needed to be done.
Please take time to visit the cemetery see how much has been accomplished, and enjoy the beauty and tranquility of this special place.