Cemetery board, families, brain-storm future care
The Oak Grove Cemetery board is looking for ways to increase revenue and decrease maintenance costs for the 15.5 acre cemetery along Route 40 just west of Uniontown.
A half-hour discussion with financial advisers from First National Bank, which serves as the trustee for a trust fund established to care for certain graves in the cemetery, made one thing very clear: the trust does not generate enough revenue to care for the entire cemetery.
According to the financial advisers, the fund generates about $3,500 a year, with the bank taking the minimum fee of $2,500 to manage the fund out of those proceeds.
As the trust fund is set up, half of the administration fee could come from the principle, leaving the rest of the revenue for maintenance of the designated graves and any additional maintenance as funding permits.
It was also noted that at present, the trust fund invests conservatively, and that could be changed to an investment plan involving more equity funds, if the board votes to take that action.
According to Dr. Gary Brain, board president, it costs $3,900 for each mowing at the cemetery.
Vice President Janet Marker said it takes about three days for a crew to complete the mowing and weed trimming at the cemetery.
“There were families that paid into the trust fund and others who were paying yearly,” Brain said.
In 2000, when the last member of the previous board of directors passed away, billing for the cemetery maintenance also stopped.
Marker said she used a partial list last year to send out bills, which resulted in enough money to cover last year’s mowing.
“There were a lot of people who sent extra money in. The donations ranged from $25 to $1,000,” Marker said.
“That back-source of money is gone. Also, there was a lot of volunteer work last year. This year we’re really on our own, and we’re open to suggestions.”
“We’re going to have to reach out to a lot of people. We need to find new ways to bring in revenues, and we need to find ways to reduce the costs,” said John Buchanan, whose maternal grandmother is buried at Oak Grove.
Buchanan suggested that the cemetery purchase mowers and string trimmers so they are available to volunteers.
The board of directors had looked into utilizing inmates from the State Correctional Institute-Fayette in Luzerne Township according to treasurer J.D. Ewing but was unable to participate in that program because of the lack of equipment and other issues.
Marker raised questions regarding equipment maintenance, noting that the cemetery can be rough on equipment.
Dana Provence, whose family has had an affiliation with the cemetery for the past 124 years, said she recalled going to the cemetery with her father as he tended to family graves when she was a child.
“I know how difficult it is to mow,” Provence said.
Ewing said the board has been working on the paperwork necessary to be considered a nonprofit corporation, so it can more easily seek grants and receive donations.
Buchanan also proposed capitalizing on the historic nature of the cemetery, possibly compiling and selling compact discs containing information about some of the historic figures buried there, including Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War veterans.
Marker said she is looking into having the cemetery declared an historic site through the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Others suggested checking if other cemeteries have received that designation and whether it helped or hurt them when it came to raising funds for maintenance.
John Curry, who has five generations of ancestors buried at the cemetery, wondered whether additional burial plots could be developed despite the cemetery’s age.
“As more and more people are cremated, there is an awful lot of space being wasted. Can we somehow divide (the plots) up smaller, with a stone you could mow over?” Curry suggested.
No final decisions were made Wednesday.