Jun 20, 2010 By Geraldine R. Santo 2 min read

I am writing this letter to the Uniontown mayor, city council and the Herald-Standard, hoping the mayor will present this to Uniontown City Council at its next meeting and that the Herald-Standard will publish this on its editorial page. Shame on Uniontown, that the city would allow the destruction of any property, especially a cemetery such as Oak Grove or sometimes called Union Cemetery of Fayette County which is located just inside the city limits marker on West Main Street.

Vandalism has run rampant, resulting in monuments and headstones being overturned, and broken.

Trees have fallen over on plots and, yes on some monuments too.

The roadway is practically impossible to use because of the deep, large ruts and potholes.

The underbrush is a jungle and the grass is mowed maybe once or twice (at that the most) a year. In other words, it is a disaster.

This cemetery is old and full. Most of the souls “sleeping” there have no family left to care for their resting place.

At one time Uniontown was said to have the most millionaires of any city in the United States, and a lot of people responsible for those “glory days” are buried in this cemetery.

There is local history there too with soldiers from the civil war and wars before that one buried there.

Uniontown has spent a lot of money to glorify one man. It is time for Uniontown to come together and glorify all those resting in this cemetery which have helped make this city a great place to live.

I sincerely hope this letter will be taken and read at the next city council meeting, and even better still, some action taken on this matter to begin to repair, clean, and restore this cemetery.

I also hope that the Herald-Standard will publish this and support this cause.

I will remain a very grateful 94-year-old and a proud resident of the City of Uniontown, Pa.